They dove into the lake to save a drowning dog, but what they pulled from the water left them speechless: 'It was weak and exhausted'

A man's quick reaction to a splashing sound in a lake led to a surprising rescue when he jumped in to save what he believed was a drowning dog. The incident occurred at Lake Britannia in Cape Coral, Florida, after the man heard the commotion and immediately went to help.

His cries attracted the attention of neighbors, one of whom called 911. Firefighters from the Cape Coral Fire Department responded, but the animal proved elusive, continuously swimming to different sides of the lake, complicating rescue efforts. "The firefighters were driving to one side of the lake to help it, but when they arrived, it swam back to the other side," explained Andrea Schuch of the Cape Coral Fire Department.

A resident named Denae Judd, observing the scene, offered her kayak to assist the firefighters. She was instrumental in spotting the animal seeking refuge in a small gap between the boardwalk and a dock. "She paddled across the lake to try to corner it," Schuch said. "This was a great help because she was the only one who saw that the animal had gotten into a small gap between the boardwalk and a dock."

Once the exhausted animal was located, firefighters carefully extracted it from the gap. To their astonishment, they discovered it was not a dog but a young coyote. "Everyone was surprised to discover it was a coyote," Schuch stated. "With over 640 kilometers of canal, it is common for dogs to fall into the water. But we have never seen a coyote before!". Given the coyote's weakened state, rescuers decided to contact a local rehabilitation center instead of releasing it back into the wild.