Dog doing well after drawbridge fall

AVENTURA, Fla. (WSVN) -- A Good Samaritan who rescued a dog that fell from a drawbridge is now helping the pooch in another way.

David Bernstein met the dog Tuesday night in Miami, as he waited for a drawbridge to go up. "She trotted by my window, and I literally looked out the window, and she looked up at me, and we made eye contact," said Bernstein.

The terrier mix was on the bridge as it started going up. He said, "The poor girl, she was trying to hang on to the grated surface, and she just slid, and I literally missed her by a foot, and she just slipped through the crack."

The pooch fell 30 feet into the river below. Bernstein searched for the dog but could not find her, so he returned Wednesday and asked a bridge employee for help. "She said, 'There might be an opening here,' and I said, 'Let's go,'" Bernstein said, "and she went in their and saw the little [dog] wallowing around in the mud."

The animal received an initial check-up and a bath at a Brickell hospital. Later, Bernstein brought the dog to his vet in Aventura, where the dog received a more thorough exam.

The dog is doing great, but Bernstein cannot keep her. "The intent is to find her rightful owner, if they're out there, looking for her," he said. "If not, to find a really amazing home for her."

Bernstein has not named the animal yet, because he is unsure where she will end up. He has considered a few potential names, though. "Some people have said 'Bridget,' because she fell off a bridge. Maybe 'Brickell,' because that's where it happened. It probably just meant to be that I was the one who was there at that time, so I'm really happy I was the one," said Bernstein.

The dog is being treated at Sky Lake Animal Hospital in Aventura.

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