On Sunday morning Peter and Judith Young were walking their puppy Luna on the Rye Harbour Nature Reserve when Luna spotted a seagull and chased off in pursuit in the direction of the river. Her owners could only watch as she sped off so quickly and unfortunately she went over the side into the river.
Peter’s first thought was to head down into the river, using the ladders on the side, to assist Luna, but he realised that this would put him in danger too, so he rang the coastguard and asked for help.
RNLI Rye Harbour was tasked by the coastguard at 8:21am and, because there was not enough water to launch the Atlantic 85, crew members made their way on foot to the place where Luna had gone in to the river – and Rob Jennings went into the river, rescued Luna, and brought her to safety on the river bank.
Stuart Clark and Jamie Guinn had Rob on a rope to aid him back up the slippery ladder. Peter and Judith were very grateful and took Luna back to their caravan to warm her up as she was shivering excessively.
Peter said: “We would like to add our sincere thanks and gratitude to those great teams, the coastguard and RNLI Rye Harbour station crew, for mobilising in response to our call for help to rescue our puppy Luna in the river early on Sunday morning.
“She had run off from us chasing a seagull and fell into the river. Unfortunately, the river was at low tide so it was some 5-6 metres below us so we couldn’t reach her. I must say it was a scary moment whilst we waited for assistance.”
RNLI’s advice when walking dogs near running water is:
• Keep me on a lead if we’re close to cliff edges or fast flowing rivers.
• If I go into the water or get stuck in mud, don’t go after me. Move to a place I can get to safely and call me – I’ll probably get out by myself.
• If you’re worried about me, call 999 or 112 and ask for the coastguard.
Image Credits: kt bruce .