The NYPD sprang into action this week to rescue what they thought was a dog struggling to swim in the East River, but ended up saving a much larger and more dangerous canine.

“Our officers responded to a call of a distressed ‘dog’ battling river currents, but realized it was actually a coyote!,” police in the 19th Precinct, which serves Manhattan’s Upper East Side, tweeted Monday.

“Thanks to NYPD Harbor for coming to the rescue — he’s now in the care of veterinarians.”

Footage of the rescue showed a cop pulling the coyote to safety by its neck with an animal control pole. The wild animal appeared tired and immediately began to rest once it was safely aboard the boat.

Cops responded to a Twitter user who pointed out that coyotes know how to swim.

“Yes, but not in the East River. Extremely strong currents and no shoreline to swim to anywhere nearby,” the precinct responded.

In a follow-up tweet Tuesday, police said the coyote was a female who was being treated by Animal Care Center and was set to be released into the wild.

There are approximately 20 to 30 coyotes living in the five boroughs, Fordham University urban ecologist Carol Henger told The New York Times last year.

They are known to live within Queens, the Bronx, and Manhattan and do not travel in true packs, city officials said, while advising New Yorkers to keep their distance from the wild dogs and avoid feeding them.