On Monday, radio operators in Batemans Bay along the New South Wales south coast got a call they hadn’t had before: a dog had been swept off the rocks and was in the ocean in distress.
Rod Ingamells, the unit commander of the local Marine Rescue NSW team, was one of the first to hop in a rescue vessel. But by the time his team reached the area, the dog had swum nearly 800 metres across the bay to nearby Snapper Island.
“I thought originally it was going to be easy, but it’s a difficult little spot,” he said. “One of our crew members who was a bit of a dog lover, she went straight into the water. But he decided to play hide and seek … and he ran around to the other side.”
The Batemans Bay team has been training since September wth two new rescue water crafts that were delivered last year. The jetskis came in handy amid extremely rough conditions that made it difficult for a larger boat to approach the rocky island.
After about an hour, a volunteer was able to coax the dog on to the back of a jetski near an area called Smugglers Cove, a rocky outcrop.
“We put him on to the ski and he was a bit like the drover’s dog,” Ingamells said. “We’ve been training for months, and he’s got the accolade for being the first rescue. It turns out to be a puppy instead of a person.”
He added the dog hasn’t been properly identified so far, but a good Samaritan had called in saying they believed the pup’s name was Oscar.
Ingamells cited a tight-knit community for the quick rescue.
“There were all these people all on the radio, saying ‘We’ll bring out a tinny,’” he said. “I think everyone in the bay at one stage wanted to save the dog.”
Oscar, or whoever he is, has since been taken to the vet with some cut paws due to the rocks on Snapper Island. Officials are in the process of reuniting him with his owners.
“Council rangers report the dog did not have a microchip but the owners have made contact,” an spokesperson with Eurobodalla shire council said. “Rangers hope to reunite the dog with its family following a yard inspection.”
“They say the dog was very lucky and the event highlights the importance of ensuring pets are registered and identifiable.”
The dog isn’t the first animal Ingamells and his team have rescued. He has participated in efforts to free whales from entanglements, aided a dolphin in distress, saved a kangaroo that was chased into the water by a dog. And during floods in the region, Ingamells worked to rescue sheep swept away by the water.
“We’re wondering what’s coming next,” he said. “It doesn’t matter, we’re there to do a job. We’re all volunteers here and we’ve got a really good community. They keep their eyes open all along the coast. If they see things, they notify us.”
