Spooked Dog Swims More Than A Mile And A Half Into Raritan Bay

Correction: An earlier version of this story incorrectly stated that fireworks spooked the dog. The Monmouth County Sheriff's Office said the dog was spooked by something else, which is unknown at this time.

UNION BEACH, NJ — A dog had to be rescued Sunday by a man on his Jet Ski and two police officers after it swam more than a mile and a half out into the center of Raritan Bay.

This is according to the 23-year-old Hazlet man, Mark LaVilla, who jumped off his Jet Ski to save the dog, and the office of Monmouth County Sheriff Shaun Golden.

This happened shortly before 6 p.m. Sunday, July 3. The dog, a 10-year-old Siberian Husky named Caiden, was with his owner, a woman, on the shoreline at Union Beach.

The dog became scared of something (Hudson Daily Voice reported it was fireworks, but a Sheriff's spokeswoman said that is not correct) and jumped into Raritan Bay.

However, once in the bay, Caiden did not stop swimming.

The dog swam approximately one and a half miles into Raritan Bay, and his frantic owner called 911 from the beach.

"The dog was a mile and a half out in the bay and was definitely struggling to get back to the shore; we believe he was drowning, actually," said Cynthia Scott, a spokeswoman for Monmouth County Sheriff Golden. "He was also disoriented to find his way back to shore. Officers said he was clearly struggling in the water."

There were some people on Jet Skis in the area trying to help rescue the dog as well, she said.

"I was Jet Skiing in that area with my girlfriend, brother and his girlfriend. I saw something in the water and I was like holy crap, what is that? Is that a wolf?" said LaVilla. "I would guess we were in 20 to 30 feet of water about a mile off the coast."

"I drove the Jet Ski near him. He was clearly disoriented and he was just swimming in circles. We tried to redirect him with the Jet Skis back towards land, but it was not possible."

LaVilla said he also called 911. It was 6:17 p.m. when he placed that 911 call from his personal watercraft. Union Beach Police called the Monmouth County Sheriff's department for back-up, as the Sheriff was operating a boat in the vicinity.

Monmouth County Sheriff's officers Michael Forgione and Kasey Collins arrived in their police boat. They threw LaVilla a rope and he jumped into the water, wearing a life jacket, and swam to the dog. He put the rope around his neck (he did not appear to be wearing a collar).

Here is video taken by LaVilla that shows the dog swimming in circles about a mile from land:

"Once he relaxed, he leaned against me and I was able to hold him. I put my hand under his chest and he went limp, so I think at that point he finally felt like he could rest. I swam him about 15 to 20 feet to the police boat and we all lifted him aboard," said LaVilla. "He was a big, heavy dog."

"Once he was on the boat, he seemed so happy he was no longer fighting to survive," said LaVilla.

The police took Caiden aboard onto their police boat and then navigated the shallow waters to reunite him with his grateful owner waiting on the Union Beach shoreline.

Monmouth County Sheriff Golden said he commends his team for a job well done.

LaVilla actually called Union Beach Police to ask about adopting the dog, but was told he had been reunited with his owner.

"I actually cannot believe what we witnessed," said LaVilla. "If we had all not been there, the dog definitely would not have made it. I wouldn't say he was tired when we found him, but he would have gotten tired."

In addition to the dog rescue, those same two officers on the boat that day also observed a brush fire that started due to the fireworks and were able to help local firefighters put out the fire.