Yahoo Finance WATCH: Florida Boaters Rescue Dog Struggling Alone in the Open Ocean and Find Pet's Family
A casual day on the water turned into a heroic boat trip for a group of friends from Fort Lauderdale, Florida.
According to NBC2 News, Bryn Crowell and her friends recently took a boat ride in the waters around Fort Lauderdale and discovered a small dog struggling to stay afloat alone in the open ocean.
The group on the boat decided to rescue the dog from the choppy waters they found the canine in and brought the pet aboard. On Monday, Crowell shared footage of the life-saving effort on TikTok, and the clip now has over 9.9 million views.
"Just Florida things," Crowell captioned the viral clip.
The video shows someone from the boat in rough water holding onto the small dog. The pair paddle back to the boat, where another individual helps the pooch on board. Concerned animal lovers quickly surround the canine.
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In a series of follow-up videos, Crowell explains how she and her friends reunited the dog, named Zuko, with his family and how the pet ended up alone in the ocean.
After saving Zuko, Crowell and her friends "called the number" they found on the tag connected to the dog's collar, according to Crowell's TikTok. Zuko's relieved owner, who lives a 20-minute boat ride from where Crowell found the canine, answered the phone "crying and thankful."
After Crowell and her friends rode over to reunite Zuko with his family, the pup's owners gave the group $300 to cover their gas costs as a thank you.
In a third TikTok, Crowell shared a text exchange with Zuko's owner about how the dog ended up in the water.
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"He was hopping around in the back of the boat 'biting' the waves that were passing by, and I guess in one of those moments he must've jumped a little too high and jumped overboard," the text from Zuko's owner shown in the Crowell's TikTok reads.
The owner added that once they noticed Zuko was missing, they searched the boat with their family, assuming Zuko was hiding. After they didn't find him, they tried retracing their boat ride but still didn't locate the dog, so they see it as a "miracle" that Crowell and her friends brought Zuko home safely.
In a fourth TikTok update on Zuko, Crowell shares that the pooch is in good health after his ocean ordeal and that his owners are incredibly grateful for Crowell and her friends' quick thinking.
