SAN DIEGO — A puppy who was swept out to sea by a rip current must be feeling lucky after his unexpected rescue off the coast of San Diego.
Sadie, a black Labrador retriever, was stolen away from the home where her owners were staying during a soccer game last month, the San Diego Fire Rescue Department said in a social media post. While her owners were tracking Sadie along the coast using an air tag attached to her collar, surfers in Ocean Beach alerted rescuers that a dog had been swept away by the current near the pier, officials said.
A U.S. Coast Guard boat and rescuers searched the area after the dog disappeared in the canal, officials said. Rescuers Garrett Smerdon and Jack Aldridge joined the search on personal watercraft and spent more than an hour searching. They were then told they would only search for 10 more minutes.
“At that point, I just said, ‘Please let’s find this dog,'” Aldridge said.
Knowing that Labs are water dogs and fighters, there was a good chance Sadie was still alive, Smerdon said. They were called off, but while they were still far away, Aldridge thought he saw something.
“We got closer and closer, then we realized it was her and we were so excited,” he said.
They raced to Sadie.
“She was definitely very happy to see us,” Smerdon said. “She was tired.”
Sadie, who was about a half-mile (0.8 kilometer) offshore near South Mission Beach when she was found, was transferred to a surf boat that took her to shore, where she was reunited with her owners, officials said.
In a video message, Sadie’s owners, Alexis Barcellos and Brandon Valdez, said they would be forever grateful.
Barcelos recalled in the video that once the search was called off, she heard a call on the radio saying they had found the dog.
“We kind of held our breath, and they were like, ‘The dog’s alive,'” she said. “And we immediately started crying.”
Sadie’s paws and nails were severely damaged as a result of her trying to get onto the sidewalk, so Barcelos and Valdez had to carry her for about a week, Barcelos said Thursday. But she was in good spirits, and this week Sadie made her first trip to the pet store since the rescue to pick out a treat, taking her first 1.5-mile (2.4-kilometer) trip.
“We are so grateful that she came home to us safely,” she said.