Alejandro Pueblas Fell Completely Into Chaco Floodwater Saving a Dog on Live TV

On Oct. 25, Argentine TV reporter Alejandro Pueblas was covering floods live in Puerto Vilelas, in Chaco province, when he and cameraman Valentín Correa saw a dog being swept away by the current. Pueblas grabbed the dog and set it somewhere safe, falling completely into the water. He later announced he would adopt it.¹²

He was on air with América Noticias hosts Rolando Graña and Soledad Larghi when he reached the dog, according to Infobae’s report on the video. Infobae describes him as a special envoy for both América Noticias and A24.¹

The clip went viral, drawing thousands of reactions and congratulations.¹ Pueblas named the dog Bartolo during the broadcast and said he stepped in because a life was in danger.¹

“A dog was being swept away by the current and we managed to see it in time and rescue it,” Pueblas wrote on social media (translated from Spanish).¹

Viewers saw only some of it. “We were only able to record part of what happened, because at that moment the only important thing was saving its life,” he wrote.¹

One dog, two dogs, and a change of plans

Pueblas first posted that the dog was safe, had eaten and had a place to stay, and then that Bartolito, as the dog came to be called, had found his family. A day after the rescue, Infobae reported him saying the dog would stay in its own habitat because it was from there, and that he had seen it playing ball with a local girl.¹

Related: Queensland Flood: Reporter and Bystander Pull Driver From Sinking Ute

Then the plan changed. Pueblas announced on social media that he would adopt Bartolo and Bartolito and take them to La Plata, according to El Colombiano, Los Andes and Milenio.²³⁴

“Bartolo and Bartolito are coming with me to La Plata,” he wrote, as quoted by El Colombiano. “I’m adopting them.”²

Accounts differ on exactly who Bartolo and Bartolito are. Infobae treats them as one dog with two names. Los Andes reports that Pueblas rescued a second dog, Bartolo, hours earlier, and that both dogs kept him company during his coverage and even rode in his truck.³ El Colombiano says he had also helped Bartolito over the weekend before rescuing him again.² Either way, the adoption announcement names both.

Milenio reports that veterinarians visited the community and treated the dogs’ wounds, and that the dogs had been in poor condition even before the flood.⁴

A flood that has displaced thousands

The rescue happened during serious flooding. As the Paraná, Paraguay and Bermejo rivers rose, 2,221 people from 593 households in Chaco had left their homes as of Oct. 28. Puerto Vilelas was among the worst-affected places, with 1,339 people displaced.²

Pueblas used the attention to ask that emergency responses take animals into account, since many pets end up trapped, abandoned or in danger during floods.¹²

“In the middle of the floods there are many animals that end up trapped, abandoned or exposed to danger and that also need help,” he wrote.¹