A group of boating friends, and the dog they rescued a mile off the Florida coast, became social media stars when a video of their exploits went viral.
Dylan Berian was boating near Fort Lauderdale with his friends when they suddenly saw a small dog swimming, alone, struggling to stay afloat. No other boats were nearby.
Berian jumped in, fully clothed, to rescue the dog and bring him back to the boat. Once on board, the friends saw the dog’s collar with his name, Zuko, and his owner’s phone number on it.
They called the owner, who said it was a miracle that Zuko was found, alive and well, if a bit wet. Berian and his friends drove Zuko to the owners’ house, just 20 minutes away, and the owners gave them $300 as a thank-you gesture.
The owners said that they had been out boating and Zuko was amusing himself, jumping up and down at the back of the boat, trying to bite the passing waves. Apparently, at some point the dog jumped up and missed the boat, ending up in the water. The owners said they frantically retraced their route, searching for their pet, to no avail.
But then Bryn Crowell, one of the other people on Berian’s boat, posted a video of the rescue on TikTok. At last count, it had registered 9.9 million views. See the video here:
https://people.com/pets/lorida-boaters-save-dog-found-alone-in-ocean-video/
