An adorable pitbull puppy rescued from near death at the Halifax river in Daytona Beach, Florida, has found a happy and loving home after being adopted by a dog-loving police officer who instantly fell in love with the orphan.
On January 17th, a freezing cold morning at 27 degrees Fahrenheit (-2 degrees Celsius), animal control officers responded to a report of a small puppy abandoned under a bridge on the river bank. Officers John Pearson and James Lee found the puppy – only around two weeks old – shivering and alone.
“She was found wedged between two rocks,” said Lyda Longa, police spokesperson. “She was soaking wet.”
The officers quickly took her back to their vehicle, turned up the heat and wrapped the shivering puppy in a towel before taking her to the shelter at the Halifax Humane Society.
Photos posted of the gorgeous pup on the Daytona Police Facebook page received hundreds of likes and comments, and a video taken immediately after the rescue went viral and has been viewed over 170,000 times.
Kera Cantrell, a kind hearted animal-lover who has served as a police officer at Daytona Beach for 21 years, regularly visited the shelter on her lunch break to visit the dogs. After hearing about the rescue, she decided she wanted to go check on the wee pup, who had been named River by the veterinarian at the shelter. It was love at first sight for the pair.
“She was this teeny tiny little thing. I grabbed her and pulled her out of the kennel she was in,” Cantrell said. “I put her up to my chest and she snuggled up under my neck – and went to sleep.”
Image Credit: Facebook, River, from frozen puppy to safe and warming hearts.
Although Cantrell already lived with three rescue dogs, she instantly knew she had to take River home to join the family. Once the young pup was healthy enough to leave the shelter, she was warmly welcomed by the other dogs: Mojo, Duck and Goose.
Image Credit: Facebook, River, from frozen puppy to safe and warming hearts.
River is a much loved addition to the household and frequent visitor to the Daytona Beach Police Department. When it’s cold, Cantrell dresses her up in a onesie and swaddles her in blankets.
“This baby is never going to be freezing again.” Cantrell said. “ She survived it. She’s a fighter. She’s an amazing little girl.”
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hail to caring and loving humans like you…God loves you so dearly..
Soo good to see kind clips of police, w/so many unkind videos bombarding us all the time. What l don’t get though, is why does the one cop have his door WIDE open while they’re attempting to warm up the poor pouche?
What an amazing happily ever after!
It’ so awesome to hear a beautiful rescue story like this.
awesome story. always wonderful to read of a rescue that has a happy ending..<3
Thank you to all who came to River’s rescue and gave her a forever, loving home. This world needs more people like you. xoxoxo
Officer Cantrell is an angel on earth for this pup! Thank God River was found in time. Two weeks old! How can people do something like abandoning this little thing, and just walk away, lay down their heads at night and sleep like a rock? You know it’s said….if God brings you to it, God will bring you through it. Perhaps that’s why little River was where he was when he was. God knew he would be rescued and would a good, loving, warm home.
What an uplifting story! So glad this little guy has a good home with a wonderful lady and her other canine friends!
so glad glad this puppy has found a loving fore ever home.
What an awesome gal, Big heart, kind heart and I was next in liner to want her, you rock and deserve a raise, tell your boss that, because your profession in itself is a hard one, you are a true hero
My heart and tears of joy and gratification go out to you. Well done.
Oh what a precious baby River is. I’m so glad these wonderful officers rescued her and now she has a loving forever home.
God is smiling in heaven because his greatest commandment was followed”Love one another as I have Loved you” . The bond between owner and mans best friend is so sacred and special. Love is a powerful thing my faith in humanity has been restored! As a animal lover ❤️My heart is filled with joy! Such a beautiful thing to see I am so happy you have found each other!! Bless you both enjoy a long happy life together!!!
So glad this baby was saved. It would have been good to put the puppy directly onto the chest of the policeman.
I could just give all these loving and caring policepersons a big hug and many thanks to the concern citizen who first reported the animal under the bridge. The Animal control officers were instrumental in saving this lovely pup for being frozen to death. They handled her with such loving care that it brought tears to my eyes. And finally another caring police officer, Ms. Cantrell, decided to add the pup to her dog family of three other rescues. This is a great story with a wonderful ending. Thanks to all who helped this pup to have a normal dog life filled with love, care and especially warmth in many ways. May God bless all of you!
RESPECT FOR THESE POLICEMEN ! l4M HAPPY TO SEE THIS THING §
JEAN FROM FRANCE
Il faut soutenir tout les animaux
It’s great this little pup has a loving forever home. Well done to all those involved in rescuing and caring for her. Thank you.
So wonderfull to hear this…Gives hope in the human race
So happy for you River, you have a wonderful home with Cantrell, and the three pups, Mojo, Duck and Goose.
Thank you Cantrell !
Me too. I am sad because there probably were more out there and they most likely drowned. The story will never be finished for me until they catch the creeps who abandoned her there and I wonder what happened to the mom too.
This is beautiful – thank you Cantrell for being a loving, caring person who respects and rescues dogs. God bless you and your fur family. Xoxo
Damn onions..great thanks to the first 2 officers who took time to warm her up as fast as possible..A great thanks also to Kera for taking the little furball to a loving family.
God bless those officers it makes me feel there are others who help and I’m glad little river got a good home and with others dogs as well what a happy ending to hear about again God bless you
A wonderful human being.
this made my day. what a beautiful pup, and thank you to the officer who rescued her. God Bless You.
I am so glad that these officers were there at the right time and decided to rescue her. Thank u Officer Cantrell for adoptibg her.
Beautiful, gorgeous luck puppy!!!! ?????
It’s very nice to see there are some good people still alive in our North America… great to see.
I hope the rest of the litter were as lucky as River!
What a great story to warm everyone’s hearts! It’s so nice to read a good story vs one of cruelty. Thank you to the rescuers and Officer Cantrell for adopting River. What a great name.