“We are so thankful that we were able to save this cutey” ❤️
Late last month, a group of cruise-goers was relishing a sunset tour along Florida’s Gulf Coast when they noticed something peculiar in the open water. A fuzzy head seemed to be bobbing up and down amidst the waves.
“Someone exclaimed, ‘There’s a dog out there!’” cruise guest Bill Carrick recounted in a Facebook post. “We were about 1 to 2 miles from shore, so I thought I must have misheard. Surely they said ‘dolphin.’”
According to Carrick, the boat captain immediately halted the vessel. Spotting the boat as her refuge, the dog swam frantically toward it. Crew members quickly helped her aboard. Once on solid ground, the relieved pup was showered with affection.
“We’re so grateful we could rescue this sweet girl,” Carrick wrote.
The story of the dog’s rescue made its way to local news stations and eventually to the right people.
It turned out the dog’s name was Ellie. WINK News reported that Ellie had been out boating with her family earlier that day when she accidentally fell into the water and went missing. Her family searched tirelessly but couldn’t find her, fearing the worst.
“I just figured that was it. I’m 72 years old, and I’ve probably cried more in the last 18 hours,” Ellie’s father, Ben Baker, told WINK.
But then, Ellie’s family saw her on the news and rushed to retrieve her.
Thanks to the efforts of compassionate animal lovers, Ellie was soon reunited with her family, back in their loving embrace.