A stray dog struggled to stay afloat in a Maryland river for nearly half an hour before a police officer and a passing fisherman brought it to safety.

Meanwhile, nearby residents helped rescue another dog that jumped into the water, WMAR reported.

Here’s what to know

Three unattended dogs caught the attention of resident Margarette Gamache at Perryville’s Owens Landing Court condominiums.

She spotted them from her waterfront terrace at the complex, where the rescue took place.

The collarless dogs made their way toward the pier.

Gamache had initially thought they might belong to unfamiliar visitors in the neighborhood.

Gamache asked her husband, Tom, to check on them; two of the dogs that had entered the river struggled to get out.

More background

The brown dog jumped into the river as it headed toward the boat slips.

Tom had seen the dogs at the top of the ramp.

“When I first saw the dogs, they were still on the top of the ramp and then I saw the brown dog,” Tom recalled.

“He went down the third slip in and he jumps in. It’s a day at the beach. He’s swimming off. Well, the older dog, which was a lab, a real husky lab, that dog jumped in to follow him and when I got down on the dock, he was struggling.”

The brown dog also began struggling to stay afloat, leaving both canines in need of help.

What’s being done?

Tom and several neighbors still needed to help the second dog and pulled it safely from the water.

The brown dog struggled in the river for nearly 30 minutes before a Perryville police officer and a fisherman rescued it, according to WMAR.

The fisherman was passing by in his boat when he noticed the commotion.

In this case, the rescued dogs were fortunate that passersby and residents happened to witness their misadventure and acted in time.

“If nobody was out here to see that happen, they could have been swimming in there and drown,” Gamache told WMAR.

Where can I learn more?

Rescuers and bystanders elsewhere have also helped dogs stranded or struggling in the water.

• In California, drones spotted a woman and her dog stranded on a boulder.

• South African rescuers saved a dog swept 650 feet offshore, reuniting him with his family.

• A Florida deputy heard dogs barking below a seawall and brought them to safety.