How many times have you seen a dog fetch a stick or a tennis ball from the water? Well, one dog put its doggie paddle to the test when it rescued a baby deer that had fallen into the ocean off of Long Island, New York.
The ordeal started when Storm, a 6-year-old golden retriever, saw the fawn in the water of Port Jefferson Harbor off Long Island. Storm swam out while his owner, Mark Freeley, filmed the dramatic rescue. Storm can be seen grabbing the fawn’s head in its neck and then hauling it back to shore, at which point he keeps nudging the unresponsive deer and licking it in what appears to be an attempt to wake it up.
We really do not deserve dogs.
Of course, the fawn did eventually wake up, at which point it promptly ran back into the water and had to be rescued again, this time by humans. But it is Storm’s initial lifeguard efforts that are taking the country by storm, with Storm being hailed as a hero:
I’m hoping he stars in the “Baywatch” sequel so he can just run down the beach in slow motion as a lifeguard.
The 3-month-old fawn is currently recovering at the Save The Animals Rescue Foundation.
Of course, because the internet has never met a hero it did not want to tear down, there is some debate about whether or not Storm truly is a hero. This New York Times writer, tongue firmly in cheek, chronicles the dog’s rise to fame while noting that Storm was possibly just trying to eat the deer or treating it like a stick that needed to be fetched.
Storm’s owner, for one, did not agree.
“I was there, and if anybody knows Storm, they know that’s not in his heart,” Freeley told the New York Times. “He is the most gentle, gracious dog you ever want to meet.”
Regardless of Storm’s intentions, the fawn will live to see another day, thanks in part to the dog’s efforts. And of course, Storm also prompted one of the better newspaper corrections you will ever see:
a NYT correction we can all lovehttps://t.co/aRYo3Hk6c2 pic.twitter.com/LFjRDeiOH4
— Bradd Jaffy (@BraddJaffy) July 19, 2017
Yes, yes he is.