Father and Dog Dad Wades into Frigid Vermont River to Save Stranger's Struggling Pup

Mar. 15, 2025

A stranded dog found a guardian angel who wasn’t afraid to get wet at just the right time.

“I felt I was obligated to at least try to fetch this dog out of the river, as I have two dogs myself, and I would hope someone would do that for them if they were in that spot,” MacRitchie told the Associated Press.

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Though he entered the water with bare arms, MacRitchie added that his primary concern about the river was not the cold temperatures.

The rescued dog’s ID tag listed Morgan Cerasoli as its owner. When MacRitchie called Cerasoli to tell her he had “pulled a drowning dog” from the Winooski River, she was overcome with emotion. The woman had been searching for her dog, Arizona, since the day before the river rescue.

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“I started crying, and I told him [MacRitchie], ‘Oh, my God, I love you, I love you, I love you, I love you, I love you, I love you,’ " Cerasoli told AP, adding that Arizona was recovering well from the ordeal.

“It’s brave, it’s selfless, it’s commendable,” she continued, speaking of MacRitchie’s efforts to save her dog. “It’s everything that I think that we were on this Earth to be.”

source: people.com