A Victoria man is applauding the owners of a yacht who plucked his dog from the ocean after it either fell or jumped off a boat on a trip between Vancouver Island and the San Juan Islands.
Rob Taylor said 12-year-old boxer/poodle Keelee was on a boat trip with his ex-wife, their son and his ex-wife’s family earlier this month. All of them were on the upper deck and no one noticed for some time that the dog, which had been below deck, was missing.
The dog appears to have escaped through a screen door.
Keelee is “one of the family” and it would have been devastating to not get her back, Taylor said.
He believes Keelee was swimming for some time.
“I see her in the water with the boat getting smaller and smaller and her being out in the open water,” he said. “Just scary.”
Taylor said people aboard a yacht called the Huntress rescued Keelee, then tracked down the boat she came from.
Keelee is doing fine now and is getting plenty of extra attention, Taylor said.
“She’s good,” he said. “No one knows how long she was in the water. It’s cold water.
“It’s just amazing that she’s alive.”
Taylor said he has since seen the Huntress docked in Victoria, but has not yet been able to make contact with the owners to thank them for saving Keelee’s life.
Taylor said he would like to hear from them at [email protected].
