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Woman and duck-chasing pit bull are rescued from lake

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Amy Graves went into a lake after her dog Benji dived in, chasing a duck. They ended up on an island. Paul Martinka
Paul Martinka
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Paul Martinka
Paul Martinka
Paul Martinka
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Paul Martinka
Paul Martinka
Paul Martinka
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Paul Martinka
Paul Martinka
Paul Martinka
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Paul Martinka
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A Brooklyn woman dove into the Prospect Park lake on Thursday to stop her pit bull from eating a flock of baby ducks — and the two had to be rescued from a small island as an NYPD chopper hovered overhead.

Amy Graves, 40, was walking her 3-year-old pit bull mix, Benji, near the park’s Vanderbilt Street entrance at 8:30 a.m., when the frisky pooch spotted six baby ducks and jumped into the lake to eat them.

“I was traumatized. I’m a big animal lover … One guy across the lake yelled, ‘Get your damn dog!’’’ Graves told The Post.

She hollered at Benji to come back — but he was dead set on turning the family of fowl into his breakfast, she said.

To save the ducks, Graves jumped into the murky lake and swam after her dog.

“Benji wasn’t listening … I started doing the freestyle stroke but then my shoes got heavy, so I started doing the breaststroke,” she said.

When Benji spotted his soggy owner, he bolted from the feathered critters and swam to nearby Duck Island, roughly half a mile from shore, witnesses said.

Graves swam after him to the bramble-filled island, where she grabbed him by the collar.

By that time a crowd had gathered. A helicopter circled overhead — and six cop cars and two fire trucks surrounded the lake, witnesses said.

Using a Parks Department boat, Graves and Benji got safely back to land.

Aside from being embarrassed, Graves made it out of the sticky situation with just a few scratches, she said.

Benji was unscathed. No ducks were harmed.

“That was a good swim!” said witness Mark Carty, 40.

The story had a happier ending than the case of NYU administrator Jacqueline Haeflinger, who was killed by a garbage truck while chasing after her dog on Wednesday in Chelsea.