Dog Rescued Under A New Jersey Pier After Swimming Across New York’s Hudson River [Video]

• A recently purchased dog managed to escape and ran away from its new owner before it could be fitted with a harness.
• The dog named Bear jumped into the Hudson River and was rescued by the firefighters after being gone for days.
• Thanks to a call reporting a barking dog under the bridge, the dog and owner were reunited.

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Bear, a cross between a Leonberger Bernese and a Bernese Mountain dog, was just purchased by Ellen Wolpin.  Bear was intended for Wolpin’s 20-year-old son Zack who has special needs. While in the process of buying him a harness, Bear bolted out and ran down the Upper East Side on 86th Street and jumped in the water near 110th Street.

Wolpin said, “He did like a full triathlon almost. Because he ran about a mile-and-a-half and then swam about a mile.”

The dog’s breed naturally thrives in cold weather, but when patrol boats could not find him that day, the family thought the worse.

But a call about a dog barking in the water came in at the Edgewater Fire Department and they immediately went to the pier at Independence Harbor in Edgewater, NJ.

Firefighter Tom Quinton said, “The two guys in the water just stayed behind him so he would come toward the boat and he sat there, waited patiently, I grabbed him by the back of the head and put him in the back of the boat,”

And when Wolpin received the call from the Edgewater Police Department at 5 o’ clock in the morning, she quickly went to the area.

Wolpin was so relieved to have Bear back. They gave him a bath, had him checked at the vet, and given different harnesses to make sure he won’t be able to escape and run away again. Of course, he already “had tons of treats and hugs”.

Good to have you back safe and sound, Bear!

Source: People