Yesterday around 3 pm, a young man drowned in Yuhang, located in east China’s Zhejiang province.

The man was in his early 20s and came from Hubei province. He worked as a maintenance man in Yuyao.

According to the man's girlfriend, he spent 2,000 yuan and bought a Labrador puppy. Before the incident happened, she and her boyfriend were walking the dog. It suddenly occurred to the man that dogs can swim. So he took the Labrador to a river nearby and tried to see if the dog could really swim.

The man climbed onto a gas pipeline, but when he tried to put the dog into the river, he himself also fell into it. Sadly, the dog actually swam to the shore while he ended up drowning in the river.

After the man was rescued by workers nearby and sent to the hospital, it was not possible to revive him.

His girlfriend said the man actually could swim. But he had a drink before the incident, and furthermore wearing slippers obviously contributed to his falling into the river.

So can Labradors swim or not?

Zhang Xu from an animal hospital in Hangzhou said that the Labrador is known as great "swimmer". Even when it is the first time to get into the water, they can swim just fine without any special training. In addition to the Labrador, other dogs poodles, Bichon, and Pomeranians are all able to swim, but dogs with flat faces like bulldogs tend to be a little weaker in the water.