Golden Retriever Missing For 16 Days Found Swimming Along Shoreline

While they were getting ready for their shift at 7 a.m. on Tuesday, New Jersey State Police Troopers Ryan Koehler and Vincent Ferdinandi received an unexpected call: a golden retriever had been seen swimming in Barnegat Bay on the Jersey Shore and needed to be rescued.

A 22-foot pool was entered by the cops. Ferdinandi told PEOPLE that he used a Zodiac boat to travel the 75 yards or so to the dog. They used a rope line to lift the dog onto a dock behind a house after gently encouraging him to do so.

He was quite worn out, Ferdinandi continues. “Obviously famished and undernourished.”

with justification. Chunk, a 3-year-old dog, apparently ran out into the woods on June 6 when he was playing fetch with his owners Marie and James Zangara.

According to the trooper, a search operation has been going on since Chunk vanished on Sunday using social media, neighborhood police departments, baited traps, dog hunters, and trail cameras.

Chunk was spotted by two joggers on the Mantoloking Bridge early on Tuesday, according to Ferdinandi, but when they attempted to catch him, he jumped into the river. By the time he was saved, he had swum approximately two kilometers across the river.

Chunk appeared terrified as the troops approached him on the ground; Ferdinandi recalls, “he kind of backed away from us.” Till the dog’s family came, they held Chunk close to their sides for protection.

The dog was just as ecstatic to see his family as the people were, according to Ferdinandi. “Seeing their relief that a part of their family had returned was fantastic.”

As he owns a Lab/Shepherd mix that he rescued, Koehler, a warrior for 16 years, is aware of how difficult it would be to be without a dog for as long as two weeks. I absolutely comprehend,” he replies.

Ferdinandi continues, “All we want is for the dog and his owners to be reunited.

The good news was shared over 6,000 times by the New Jersey State Police on their Facebook page early Tuesday.

“Troopers Koehler and Ferdinandi responded in a motorboat and discovered Chunk, who was swimming near the Mantoloking Bridge and were able to safely bring him to land,” the State Police wrote on Facebook.

“Chunk, a three-year-old boy,” the message continues, “has been missing for more than two weeks.” “It goes without saying that he was overjoyed to see his grateful owners once more.”