Castaway Dog Found
Updated : Apr 8, 2009
A pet dog which was washed overboard while on a boat trip has been found four months later - as a castaway on a remote Australian island.
Jan and Dave Griffith thought pet Sophie Tucker had drowned after she vanished in stormy waters off Queensland. But the dog somehow survived a five mile swim through shark-infested waters to the largely uninhabited St Bees Island. There she survived on a diet of baby goats until she was found by visiting rangers.
The Griffiths were amazed to hear of the discovery of their beloved pet and have now been reunited with her. "She surprised us all," said Mrs Griffith. "She was a house dog and look what she's done, she has swum over five nautical miles, she has managed to live off the land all on her own. We wish she could talk, we truly do."
There was an emotional reunion when the Griffiths met the rangers' boat bringing Sophie Tucker to the mainland. "We called the dog and she started whimpering and banging the cage and when they let her out she just about flattened us," Mrs Griffith said.
VeryHappyPig could survive on a diet of baby goats too so there!!
