It’s not often that you see the word “freezing” in regard to Daytona Beach, Fla., but the temperature plummeted to only 28 degrees there overnight on Jan. 19. That morning, the Daytona Beach Police Department got a call about a Pit Bull puppy who some heartless loser had abandoned by the side of a road.
The DBPD’s animal control officers James Lee and John Pearson found the shivering puppy under a bridge by the Halifax River. They brought the poor little pup into their patrol car and wrapped her up in a blanket. Officer Pearson held the puppy to his chest to help warm her.
The officers drove the puppy to the Halifax Humane Society (HHS), where she was treated by a veterinarian. According to the HHS Facebook page, the puppy’s condition was touch-and-go for a while. Officers Lee and Pearson made regular visits to the shelter to check on the puppy whose life they saved.
UPDATE: Remember the puppy rescued by @DBCops1 animal control officer John Pearson and James Lee under the Seabreeze Bridge during freezing temps a few days ago? Nobody’s gonna keep this puppy down! She’s recovering and has been named River! pic.twitter.com/s4mnTXGLun
— Daytona Beach Police (@DBCops1) January 25, 2018
“This beautiful, spunky puppy was nursed back to health at Halifax Humane Society,” the DBPD wrote on its Facebook page Feb. 5.
The puppy, who rescuers named River, wasn’t microchipped. Unsurprisingly, no one ever showed up to claim her.
The good news is that River is now in a loving forever home and will never have to worry about being abandoned again. Just over two weeks after her life was saved by Officers Lee and Pearson, River has been adopted by another member of the Daytona Beach Police Department: Officer Kera Cantrell.
It was “love at first sight,” according to the DBPD. Sweet!
UPDATE: River the frozen puppy plucked from the Halifax River 2 weeks ago by Daytona Beach’s animal control team, goes home with @DBCops1 Officer Kera Cantrell. Love at first site. pic.twitter.com/2NMreDjBZ5
— Daytona Beach Police (@DBCops1) February 5, 2018
Photo credit: Daytona Beach Police Department/Facebook