Dog wearing life vest rescued from river

VOLUSIA COUNTY, Fla. (WOFL FOX 35) - Social media brought a dog home under some pretty wild circumstances.

"Here was this little dog swimming in the water with a life jacket on," Volusia County resident Jeanette Hopkins says, as she describes her unique discovery.

Hopkins found the dog inside the Halifax river behind her home.

"It could've gotten hit by a boat...by an engine," says Hopkins.

But when she didn't see any boaters in the water, she turned to social media to find Fido's parents. She would later learn his name is Ziggy.

"The first thing that came to my mind was Facebook. It'll get shares. I think we got over 900 shares," says Hopkins.

That's when the power of social media took hold.

"My girlfriend called into work to her boss, and her boss up in Jacksonville happen to see it on her friend's page, that a dog was found in the Halifax River. She sent her the Facebook post, and it was just an incredible feeling."

Ziggy's dad, Al Reale, says he was out on the water Monday night when he left Ziggy on the boat to get something off of another boat.

"There's about a foot in between the boats. I went downstairs for about 30 seconds. I drove about 150 yards to dock the other boat and that's when I noticed he was gone," Reale says.

That's also when the frantic search began, but Ziggy was on dry land, although Hopkins says it seemed Ziggy wanted to get back to his parents.

"It's almost like he knew he needed to be in the water to find his mom and daddy."

And much to her relief, Hopkins says she got the call she was waiting for. Al's girlfriend called Hopkins to claim Ziggy.

"She just started crying. She said I was crying all night last night, and I know the feeling because I have three of my own."

It was certainly a lessoned learned the hard way for doggy dad Al.

"When we're moving and underway, I got my eyes on him all the time, and I never really paid that much attention to him when he's walking on the dock, but I will now... If you're not holding them or have a leash on them, ya gotta have a jacket on them."

Ziggy is in good condition, and happy to be home.