Madison Zaleski
•6/23/2026
A tiny swimmer battling the waters of Cape Coral's Britannia Lake Monday morning had neighbors like Denae Judd taking a closer look.
"We were inside the house and we heard somebody yelling from across the lake. I thought I heard something about a dog," said Judd.
"The closer I got, the more afraid he was. Then I realized as I got closer, it didn't look like a dog," said Judd.
It wasn't a lost pet in the water. It was a coyote pup. Its fight to survive rallied neighbors to jump into action.
"It seemed to be disoriented, like it wasn't sure which direction to take," said Judd.
Judd offered to help from her kayak. She kept a close eye on it and let Cape Coral fire crews know it had crawled up under a dock.
"We were able to kind of poke it out from under the gap between the seawall and the dock and into the water, and using our dog catch poles, were able to rescue it finally from the water," said Andrea Schuch with the Cape Coral Fire Department.
Cape Coral firefighters get at least two animal rescue calls every month. If you ever see an animal struggling in the water, they said to call the professionals and don't jump in yourself.
"Because the animal is going to be very scared and very frightened, and it could claw or bite just out of fear while they're trying to help it," said Schuch.
This rescue ended with fire crews surprising Judd with a community recognition coin. However, she says the honor really belongs to everyone involved.
"Regardless of what it was, I just think your natural instinct just kicks in, like, go get the thing and bring it to safety," said Judd.
Fire crews say the pup was exhausted from its ventures and unable to be released.
The Clinic for the Rehabilitation of Wildlife is caring for the coyote. The pup is estimated at 12 weeks old and was emaciated. CROW says he's currently undergoing assessments under critical care.
