Dog rescued by kayaker at sea survived car crash

SIESTA KEY, Fla. -- A fisherman was out on the water recently when he got quite the surprise: a dog paddled right up to his kayak. But it didn't come from a boat; it survived a deadly car accident involving his owner.

You're out fishing for small sharks and mackerel off Florida’s Siesta Key when you catch - a dog? Well he didn't actually catch the dog, the dog caught him.

“He seemed to be making a b-line toward me,” Rory O’Connor said. 

O'Connor lifted the Hungarian Vizsla onto his kayak.

“I usually keep the camera running just in case I catch the big one,” he said. 

But this story has no sweet, happy ending.

“I immediately saw that he was in distress,” O’Connor said. “He was shaking a lot.”

His legs were cut up, one paw was especially bad. Hungarian Vizslas are excellent swimmers, but this one seemed in danger of drowning.

O’Connor says the dog was half a mile from shore and struggling.

“My first thought was he's fallen off a boat, maybe slipped off while the owner wasn't paying attention,” O’Connor said. So he approached the closest boat and asked.

But Barney's trip started as a walk; his owner was hit and killed by an alleged drunk driver. That's when he took off into the water. Luckily, he found Rory in the kayak.

The alleged drunk driver now faces charges ranging from dui to negligent manslaughter. He's being held on bail pending an arraignment.

The dog is back with his family.

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