As recovery efforts continue in the aftermath of Hurricane Milton, an especially sweet selfie is standing out.
“Check out this beautiful moment of pure gratitude and love!” wrote Florida’s Hillsborough County Fire Rescue in a Facebook post on Friday.
One photo included in the post shows a wet, bedraggled-looking dog gazing at a firefighter, who stares down at the camera.
“This dog’s eyes say it all as he looks at Cpt. Dusty Mascaro from our HCFR [search and rescue] team after being brought to safety,” the post said.
Another photo showed Mascaro carrying the pup, which appeared to be a Bernese mountain dog, in his arms through knee-deep floodwater.
The post did not include specifics on where the dog was found, and the county fire rescue team did not immediately return a request for comment from HuffPost. In the Facebook post, the agency added that it was “ensuring that no one — human or animal — is left behind” and had rescued 104 pets so far. Additional photos showed a group of dogs packed inside a bus.
Other dramatic animal rescues have gone viral in the wake of Hurricane Milton, which slammed into Florida on Wednesday.
Florida Highway Troopers posted a video showing the rescue of a dog left tied to a fence in rising water by the side of the road north of Tampa. The dog, now named Trooper after his rescuer’s profession, is in the care of a Florida animal shelter.
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And in Fort Myers, as the rain poured down, journalist David Barcenas was able to pry a sopping wet cat meowing for help out from underneath a car while his colleague Christopher Salas filmed the rescue. Barcenas told The Washington Post that if it turns out the cat does not have a “loving family who misses her,” he wants to adopt her himself.
