A dog owner has said that she is "eternally grateful" to a man who risked his life to save her puppy after he slipped into the River Tyne in Northumberland.
On Friday April 14, 25-year-old Ally Temple, a barber from North Shields, had left her five-month-old puppy Onyx with her mum Shirley while she was at work. However, when Shirley was walking the French bulldog at Prudhoe Riverside Park, disaster struck when the young pooch 'slipped' into the fast-flowing river.
Luckily, one quick-thinking passer-by was on hand to jump straight into the river and rescue Onyx, giving no thought to the danger he would be in himself. Once he had returned Onyx to Shirley, she took him straight to the vets where he was checked over and given antibiotics to get rid of any bacteria from the river and water on his lungs.
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A further check-up on Monday found that Onyx has made a full recovery, to his owners' delight.
Ally said: "I'm absolutely overwhelmed, I couldn't thank him enough. Obviously I know it's extremely silly of him, but we're very, very grateful to him for jumping in!
"My beautiful boy would not be here without this hero, and I am eternally grateful that this man risked his life for my puppy. It goes to show, there are still some amazing, caring people in this mad world."
Ally finished with a word of advice for other dog users, saying: "Onyx is fully trained on and off lead, this was just an unfortunate freak accident. I cannot stress enough how careful everyone, not just dogs, needs to be around the water as this could have ended with a completely different outcome."
Has a good Samaritan ever rescued your pet, or have you rescued someone else's? Let us know!
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