A dog rescued a baby deer on Sunday by swimming Long Island Sound in an effort that has been viewed thousands of times on YouTube.
Storm, an English golden retriever, went to action in Port Jefferson, New York, after he and his owner Mark Freeley spotted the fawn in the water apparently in trouble, WCBS-TV reported. Freeley could be heard on the now-viral video encouraging Storm to bring the fawn to shore.
"Storm just plunged into the water and started swimming out to the fawn, grabbed it by the neck, and started swimming to shore," Freeley told the television station, who added that Storm laid down next to the baby deer once back on land. "And then he started nudging it, and started pulling it to make sure shew as gonna be OK I guess."
Freeley called the Strong Island Animal Rescue League to assist the fawn, Frank Floridia told the New York Daily News. When Floridia arrived at the beach to check the animal for wounds, the fawn apparently got scared and jumped back into the water, the newspaper said.
Floridia said he jumped in after the fawn, realizing that it was struggling to say above water, wrote the Daily News.
"It was a do-or-die situation," Floridia said, according to the Daily News. "I really didn't have much of a choice. If I didn't go in the water, the deer would've died."
Floridia said this time the animal allowed him to grab her to be saved, wrote the newspaper. He said the deer was taken to the nonprofit animal rescue Star Foundation where it was listed in stable condition.
Floridia told the Daily News that the deer, which had cuts and bruises on its head, would be released back into the wild in a few months.
Twitter appeared to be impressed with Storm's efforts.