Stray Dogs Beg Teens to Save Their Drowning Friend at an Abandoned Water Park

Stray Dogs Beg Teens to Save Their Drowning Friend at an Abandoned Water Park
(YouTube Screenshot | Trevor Costelloe)
3/28/2020
Updated:
7/26/2020

After a stray dog fell into deep trouble at an abandoned water park, his pack mates did everything they could to save him. When their efforts failed, the dogs ran for help and came across a pair of unsuspecting friends on an excursion.

One of them was a YouTube vlogger, and he caught the entire encounter on camera.

“I cant [sic] believe how lucky we were,” Trevor Costelloe posted on YouTube. “[R]ight place, right time.”
©YouTube Screenshot | <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rYo7iChTGkQ">Trevor Costelloe</a>
©YouTube Screenshot | Trevor Costelloe

In January last year, Trevor and his friend Dave went to visit an old water park in San Diego.

“I couldn’t find anything online about this place,” Trevor said in the footage that he shared on Jan. 31, 2019, “but it shut down sometime in the last decade or so for unknown reasons.”

About 30 minutes after the two friends arrived to explore the abandoned park, their fun adventure turned into an “unforgettable moment.”

©YouTube Screenshot | <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rYo7iChTGkQ">Trevor Costelloe</a>
©YouTube Screenshot | Trevor Costelloe

Trevor and Dave spotted a white dog in the distance from their vantage point looking over the park and initially worried that the dog may be hostile. The friends decided, however, to walk toward the dog and further explore the grounds.

Little did they know at the time but the white dog was helplessly watching his pack mate struggle, having fallen into deep water and unable to get himself out.

©YouTube Screenshot | <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rYo7iChTGkQ">Trevor Costelloe</a>
©YouTube Screenshot | Trevor Costelloe

As the friends approached a children’s pool at the park, another dog appeared, a gray-and-white pit bull mix.

The pair of dogs, both with tails wagging but seemingly agitated, ran up to the friends. Trevor reassured them with, “Hey doggy, you’re okay.”

As Trevor panned the camera across to another pool behind a line of trees, he exclaimed, “What’s in the water over there?” The sound of flailing limbs traveled across the concrete, and the two friends were finally alerted to the emergency.

The agitated strays led Trevor and Dave toward the sound.

©YouTube Screenshot | <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rYo7iChTGkQ">Trevor Costelloe</a>
©YouTube Screenshot | Trevor Costelloe

In a narrow, deep reservoir, a third dog was paddling desperately to stay afloat. Exhausted, he didn’t have the strength to heave himself out of the water.

Trevor hurriedly laid his camera on the ground and rushed over to help, dragging the dog to the side of the pool by his paw and then lifting his sodden body out of the water.

The rescued dog shook himself off immediately while his elated pack buddies danced around him with their tails wagging.

©YouTube Screenshot | <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rYo7iChTGkQ">Trevor Costelloe</a>
©YouTube Screenshot | Trevor Costelloe

“Aww, the babies,” Dave said, commenting on the dogs’ joyous reunion. Trevor and Dave, shaken by the emergency but overjoyed by the rescue, laughed and filmed the reunited pack as they leapt around together and then trotted off into the distance.

“We didn’t hear anything and he must have just, like, fallen in,” Dave said in the footage.

“I cannot believe that happened,” Trevor added. “If we didn’t come here to film today, like [...] that dog honestly would have drowned.”

©YouTube Screenshot | <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rYo7iChTGkQ">Trevor Costelloe</a>
©YouTube Screenshot | Trevor Costelloe

To date, over 250,000 people have viewed Trevor and Dave’s dog rescue video on Trevor’s YouTube channel alone. Thousands of people left supportive comments. “Thanks for saving the pup,” wrote one viewer. “You made the world a better place by being there.”

“Awesome job, Trevor and Dave,” wrote another. “Warmed my heart to watch your rescue. Even tho you all were (understandably) nervous around unfamiliar dogs,” they added, “you heeded the call of duty without hesitation.”

For their kindness, as one viewer suggested, Trevor and Dave surely deserved “a big deposit in their karma accounts.” On that sunny day in San Diego, two friends with a camera and an insatiable curiosity saved a desperate dog from drowning.

Watch the rescue in the video below:

Video courtesy of Trevor Costelloe  (YoutubeInstagram)

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Louise Chambers is a writer, born and raised in London, England. She covers inspiring news and human interest stories.
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