Dog saved from river, thanks to high-flying deputies

After a golden retriever went overboard on a family's boating trip, deputies happened to be in the right spot to come to the rescue -- overhead.

Brevard County sheriff's deputies happened to be flying over the Banana River on the way back from a call on Sunday when they saw it: a golden retriever on a small island, clearly in distress and exhausted.

After a few minutes, the retriever decided to go back into the open river.

"The dog was in distress out in the Banana River.  It was extremely exhausted and [the pilot] said, from what we could see from the air, the dog was in pretty bad peril," Brevard County Sheriff Wayne Ivey recalled.

The dog's owners saw the helicopter tracking something, and decided to follow it.  Deputies used the helicopter's loudspeaker to direct the family to their golden retriever.

It took over an hour, but eventually the tired dog was reunited with its family.

"That's what we're supposed to do," Sheriff Ivey added.  "We are here to protect and serve. It doesn't say just protect people, it says protect the community."