A 7 -year -old dog saved flood waters during Hurricane Florence was named the cutest rescue dog in People magazine. The announcement was made on Wednesday exclusively on “CBS Mornings”.
Bastian beat two other finalists, Apollo and Tiki, for first place. He was found pending in flood waters with his sister during the 2018 Hurricane in South Carolina. After his rescue, he was brought to the New Jersey, where he was the only dog who was not adopted at an adoption event – to Joelle Andres, his now owner, brought him home. Her sister was adopted in another family.
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“It was so surreal,” said Andres about the “Mornings CBS” competition.
When it was rescued for the first time, Bastian was described as “very closed”. Andres said that many adopters were looking for “this love at first glance” when a dog connects instantly, but she decided to give him time to open up.
To help him communicate, Andres formed Bastian to use recordable pimples that say words such as “walking”, “outside”, “treat”, “water”, “hello” and “house”. It was a way to give him an agency at his expense, she said.
As a winner of the competition, Bastian will be presented in People magazine. The publication will also make a donation of $ 1,000 in its honor to the Burlington County Animal Alliance of New Jersey, the group that helped its rescue.