Workers in Estonia thought they rescued a dog from an icy river. It was actually a wolf

Finally, a story out of Europe in which the wolf isn't the villain. 

Several men in Estonia who rescued what they thought might be a dog from an icy river found out later they had actually saved a wolf, according to news accounts and a post on the Facebook page of the Estonian Union for the Protection of Animals. 

According to the Estonian news outlet Postimees, three construction workers saw the animal struggling and cleared a path through about 109 yards of icy water. 

They pulled the animal out of the water, wrapped it in a blanket and took it to warm up in their car before driving it to an animal clinic, according to Postimees.

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“He was calm, slept on my legs. When I wanted to stretch them, he raised his head for a moment,” Rando Kartsepp, one of workers, told Postimees.

The men entertained the idea that the animal might be a wolf, but it didn't seem likely, according to EUPA's post. Once they got to the clinic, a hunter confirmed that the animal was actually a young wolf born last year. 

The veterinarian said that considering the wolf's condition, it probably wouldn't have been able to get out of the river without the men's help, according to EUPA. 

A photo in the Postimees showed the wolf later being released into the wild. 

Estonia has an estimated 200 wolves, according to the Associated Press, and the grey wolf was voted the country's national animal by nature organizations in 2018.

Contributing: The Associated Press

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