Storm the golden retriever has taken the internet by, well, storm – for his daring rescue of a baby deer on Sunday morning. The dog was out for a walk with his fellow pet Sara and his owner Mark Freeley, when he spotted something in the water. A baby deer was struggling and going underwater in Long Island Sound at Port Jefferson Harbor.
“He just plunged into the water and started swimming out to the fawn, grabbed it by the neck, and started swimming to shore,” Freeley told CBS news. The video shows the brave dog bring the three-month-old baby deer to shore. The fawn runs away, probably in fear from Storm, who chases it.
But not menacingly. As Freeley told CBS, “Then he started nudging it, and started pulling it to make sure she was gonna be okay, I guess.” The deer was okay, as you can see in the video below, and Freeley immediately contacted the Strong Island Animal Rescue League.
However, the rescue didn’t end there.
The fawn was terrified and appeared disoriented. Frank Floridia and his partner Erica Kutzing from Animal Rescue had just reached the beach when the fawn ran back into the water, even farther this time. Both of them and Freeley had to wade into the water and use a rope to rescue it this time, a process that took about eight anxious minutes.
Finally, the fawn – covered in ticks, and suffering from minor cuts and bruises and an eye injury – was rescued and taken for recovery to an animal rescue center that will release it back into the wild after a full recovery.
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