Firefighters rescued a small dog that had been missing for weeks after finding it swimming into the San Francisco Bay.

The dog had gone missing over the Fourth of July weekend, according to the Menlo Park fire protection district. But someone called 911 on 16 July to say they had seen a dog enter the bay near the Dumbarton Bridge in East Palo Alto.

The dog “just kept swimming”, according to a Menlo Park fire district Instagram post.

Menlo Park Fire Protection District rescued a dog in the San Francisco Bay. Photograph: Menlo Park fire protection district

The Menlo Park fire protection district mobilized at least two trucks, a boat and an airboat in pursuit of the dog. Rescuers first put eyes on it from the ground with binoculars. Later, they used a drone while pursuing it from the water.

The department later released footage of the dog rescue on social media.

Both fire and police officers assisted with saving the missing dog, which was photographed getting toweled off by a team of tattooed firefighters.

Additional footage released by the East Palo Alto police department showed the dog being followed by seagulls in the water. According to InMenlo, the dog was rescued a half mile off the shore.

Authorities later turned over to the local Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA), which located the pup’s family and returned it.

“Dog and family have been reunited,” the Menlo Park fire protection district’s Instagram post reads.