Dog alerts man to save pit bull from drowning in Cape canal

CAPE CORAL, Fla. William McLaughlin was standing near his kitchen window Wednesday, when something caught his eye.

McLaughlin stepped outside and there was a small dog on his deck. The dog rushed over to the edge of the deck and that’s when McLaughlin noticed there was a pit bull struggling in the canal.

“The pit bull, he was dog treading, but all you could see really was his eyes and his nose,” McLaughlin said.

The smaller dog did not leave the pit bull’s side and stayed with it until McLaughlin was able to reach in and pull it out of the water.

“I took off down the side of the canal there, went down about three houses,” McLaughlin said. “I said ‘come on baby, come on boy’  and so he swam back up to the point where I was able to reach down and grab him by his collar and pull him out.”

Both of the dogs are from separate households and were returned to their families after Lee County Animal Control picked them up, McLaughlin said.

But McLaughlin couldn’t help but marvel at the bond the two dogs shared.

“If it hadn’t been for that black dog, getting my attention in the kitchen window, the pit bull would’ve drowned,” McLaughlin said. “He would’ve stayed in this water…but that little black dog saved his life!

It is unclear how the dogs got away from their homes or how the pit bull ended up in the canal, but McLaughlin hopes he can meet both of the dog’s owners.

McLaughlin’s granddaughter captured this video of the pups before they were taken home:

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