Dog Swimming For Its Life Rescued By Coast Guard Off Florida Coast

A U.S. coast guard crew in southwest Florida were called in to help an unexpected candidate, a dog in distress.

The U.S. Coast Guard Station Fort Myers Beach said they were on night patrol when they received a call about a dog swimming offshore which needed to be rescued.

"While our crew was out underway for a night patrol, we received a call for a dog in distress swimming off Fort Myers Beach/Bowditch Point," Coast Guard Station Fort Myers Beach wrote on Facebook.

After receiving the call, the coast guard located the dog which appeared to be swimming desperately for its life. They decided to use their training used to rescue humans to save the dog.

The crew approached the dog and one of the coast guards held out his arm and called out to the dog. However, the dog, which was not familiar with the rescue process, ignored him and kept on swimming. The coast guard asked the dog where it was going, as it swam away from him.

In the next attempt, the crew got close enough to the canine for two of the guards to pull it out of the water.

“You’re the best person I ever rescued,” the coastguard recording the video can be heard telling the dog.

“Thanks to the crew’s expertise in intercepting non-compliant vessels (NCV) and recovering a person in the water (PIW), our “star” of the night was safely recovered,” U.S. Coast Guard Station Fort Myers Beach wrote on Facebook.

The dog was returned safely to its owner, Fox 13 Tampa Bay reported. It is not known how the dog got into the situation.