Barney’s dramatic rescue

Barney, a Hungarian Vizsla was having an awful, traumatic day. He had lost his owner, 53-year-old Donna Chen, who was killed in a motor accident while jogging. He was himself injured, in a state of panic and had jumped into the waters of the Gulf of Mexico.

This is when he swam up to kayaker Rory O’Connor about 800m offshore the island of Siesta Key, about 64km south of Florida’s St Petersburg. The video camera on O’Connor’s kayak captures Barney approaching the kayak and then reaching out for O’Connor who was only too glad to assist the poor, agitated animal.

“I pulled him into the kayak and he was really scared,” said O’Connor. “He was shaking a lot. Had a bunch of wounds on his leg and was bleeding.”

Barney was eventually returned to his deceased owner’s family. He may not have been reunited with his owner, but at least he may have found a bunch of new friends.

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