Frozen puppy rescued from river adopted by police officer

The tiny dog was abandoned in below freezing water

A pitbull puppy left to die in freezing waters has been nursed back to health and adopted by a police officer.

The dog, now named River, was left under a bridge in Daytona Beach, Florida, in below freezing temperatures.

Thankfully an anonymous call was made and animal control officers John Pearson and James Lee rescued the shivering pup.

In a post on their Facebook page, Daytona Beach Police Department (DBPD) said: "We really want to thank the person, whoever you are, who called and let DBPD know that River had been left to die under the Seabreeze Bridge in mid-January."

Despite her traumatic ordeal River is said to be in good health and has since been adopted by a Daytona Beach police officer, who regularly visited her while she was recuperating.

DBPD said: "This beautiful, spunky puppy was nursed back to health at Halifax Humane Society. One DBPD officer kept visiting River while she recovered. That officer, District One's Kera Cantrell, fell in love with this little canine and the feeling was mutual!"