Now that's a good boy! A golden retriever named Storm has been publicly praised as a hero after his owner, Mark Freeley, posted a Facebook video of his pet rescuing a baby deer from drowning.
Standing by the water of Port Jefferson Harbor off Long Island, Freeley captured the stunning footage of his dog paddling toward what appeared to be a brown lump in the harbor and carrying it to the beach — revealing it was a actually a fawn in distress. One look at the video and you'll know why it's already been viewed by more than 5 million people on Facebook.
Freeley later said that Storm “grasped the deer by the neck — just the way a lifeguard would put his arm over someone’s neck — and dragged him in.”
So Freeley firmly believes that Storm wasn't simply following his instinct to retrieve, or following his stomach.
“I was there, and if anybody knows Storm, they know that’s not in his heart,” said Freeley. “He is the most gentle, gracious dog you ever want to meet.”
The video does seem to show a sign of affection from Storm to the barely-moving fawn, shortly after the epic rescue. After all, Storm gently licks the deer's neck.
“It was so touching,” Freeley said. “It showed he really had a care and was worried about the fawn.”
But whether Storm truly meant to save the deer or not, the Strong Island Animal Rescue League came shortly after to rescue the fawn for themselves. Now, it's currently recovering and in stable condition at the Save the Animals Rescue Foundation — all thanks to one very good boy.
h/t NYTimes.com
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