Sligo Bay RNLI’s volunteer crew were requested to launch by the Irish Coast Guard on Sunday morning (13 August) to reports of a dog who had become stranded on a sandbank at Culleenamore near Strandhill in Ballisodare Bay.
Buddy the border collie had been out walking with his owner at the beach when he decided to go for a swim. Due to the low tide, he swam as far as the sandbank but then was unable to return to his owner on the beach.
Thankfully the owner called 112 and asked for the coastguard rather than attempting a rescue himself.
Getting the call at 11.21am, the volunteer crew aboard the inshore lifeboat Sheila and Dennis Tongue launched 10 minutes later and were on the scene just before noon.
Due to the low tide and narrowing channels, extreme caution had to be taken by the lifeboat crew to negotiate their passage to get close to the dog. The volunteer crew train with the navigation equipment onboard, and they managed to get close enough for one crew member to get onto the sandbank and try to coax the dog onto the lifeboat but to no avail as Buddy was very nervous.
After a couple of hours and with the tide beginning to rise, another solution was necessary to bring the dog to safety. Contact was made with the shore and the owner’s son borrowed a kayak and lifejacket and paddled out to the scene where he was able to coax Buddy into the lifeboat.
The lifeboat crew then returned to the station at 2.25pm with Buddy, his owner’s son and kayak all safely onboard. Buddy was meet with a big bowl of water and he was very happy to be back on dry land again.
Speaking after the rescue, one of the lifeboat crew said: “As a dog owner, my skills were tested to their limits today. Not as straightforward as we all thought it would be, but it was great to eventually reunite Buddy with his owner.”
Sligo Bay RNLI asks pet owners to remember, if your pet goes into the water, please do not enter the water after them — instead call 112 or 999 and ask for help from the coastguard.
