An animal-control officer is credited with saving a dog from rising water during the height of Saturday's severe weather.
Officer Anthony Defore said he noticed something moving in the water along Peachtree Creek in northwest Atlanta.
Defore took a closer look and noticed that someone had tied a dog to a tree and the animal was up to its neck in water.
"I'm watching as the water is coming up, because it's flooding very quickly,” Defore said. "I saw his head bobbing up and down."
Defore noticed the dog was going with the current but wasn't moving very far because of the rope.
"So I had to make a decision to either call the Fire Department and hope they got there in time or go in after him. I decided not to chance it, and go in after him," Defore said.
Defore held up the collar and pulled the dog up enough to untie the rope.
"He was obviously out there so long, the collar bled on to his fur," Defore said.
The dog is now being cared for at the Fulton County Animal Shelter. He named the dog "River," and the dog is up for adoption.
"There are some cases where you kind of have to put yourself aside and take the risk,” Defore told Channel 2’s Kerry Kavanaugh.
A shelter spokeswoman said the dog is 5-years-old, neutered and microchipped, but no one wanted to claim him.
"Taking the risk with him was probably the best decision I made,” Defore said.
Defore said the animal tested positive for heartworms. He's hoping someone will adopt River and get him treated.
UPDATE: Animal control officials say the dog has been adopted and is going home with its new owners in a few days.
