Golden Retriever Missing For 16 Days Found Swimming Along Shoreline

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

The cops fell 22 feet deep. Ferdinandi told PEOPLE he used a Zodiac boat to reach the dog, which was about 75 yards from shore. They used a rope to gently encourage the puppy to land and lift him onto a sidewalk behind the house.

“It was exhausting,” Ferdinandi says. “Undoubtedly malnutrition and hunger.”

For good reason. According to Ferdinandi, 3-year-old Chunk was playing fetch with owners Mary and James Zangara on June 6 when he got scared and ran off into the woods.

According to the cop, a search campaign using social media, local police departments, bait traps, dog catchers and surveillance cameras has been underway since Chunk moved away from home on Sunday.

According to Ferdinandi, two joggers on the Mantoloking Chunk Bridge early Tuesday morning noticed; But when they tried to catch him, he jumped into the water. By the time he was rescued, he had swum more than two kilometers through the water.

Chunk seemed terrified of the soldiers once they reached the ground, and “he kind of backed away from us,” Ferdinandi says. However, the two kept Chunk safe by their side until the dog’s family arrived.

“Seeing their relief to have their family member back was incredible, and the dog was happy to see his family as well,” Ferdinandi says.

A trooper for 16 years, Kohler owns a rescue Lab/Shepherd mix and knows how terrible it is for a dog to stay for up to two weeks. “I totally understand that,” he says.

“We are very happy that the dog and its owners can be reunited,” Ferdinandi adds.

New Jersey State Police posted the good news on its Facebook page early Tuesday, in a post that has been shared more than 6,000 times.

“Troopers Kohler and Ferdinandi responded in a motorboat and discovered Chunk, who was swimming near the Mantoloking Bridge, and were able to lower him safely to land,” state police said in a Facebook post.

The letter adds: “Chunk, a three-year-old boy, has been missing for more than two weeks.” “Needless to say, he was happy to see his thankful owners again.”