NJ State Police Rescue Missing Golden Retriever From Barnegat Bay

BRICK, NJ — When Chunk the golden retriever went missing two weeks ago, his owners said he loves to swim.

Tuesday morning that's exactly what he was doing when New Jersey State Police found him and reunited him with his family: swimming in Barnegat Bay.

Chunk, a 3-year-old golden retriever, slipped away from his owners in the area of F Cove on June 7.

His owners and others searched repeatedly for the dog over the ensuing days. Posters and social media posts turned up tips about sightings of the dog, who was wearing his collar and tags and is microchipped. But he was not staying in one spot long.

"Do not chase — he is very skittish," posts about Chunk warned repeatedly, "he will run."

Tuesday morning, however, New Jersey State Troopers Ryan Koehler and Vincent Ferdinandi were preparing for their shift when they were dispatched to the report of a dog swimming in Barnegat Bay, state police said in a post on the department's Facebook page.

Koehler and Ferdinandi work out of the Point Pleasant station. They headed out in a state police vessel to the area where the dog was reported to be seen. There they found Chunk, swimming in the area of the Mantoloking Bridge, and pulled him out of the water.

"Needless to say he was ecstatic to be reunited with his grateful owners," state police said.

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