Dog Swept Out to Sea in Japan Is Saved

Posted on Apr 2, 2011

Kyodo

Japanese Coast Guardsmen hold the dog rescued off the coast of Miyagi Prefecture on Friday.

Just to prove that things aren’t all bad in the world, here’s a bit of uplifting news. The Japanese Coast Guard plucked a small dog from wreckage floating three miles at sea three weeks after the earthquake and tsunami that ravaged the country’s northeast coast. —JCL

Kyodo via Japan Times Online:

The canine castaway was spotted by helicopter at around 4 p.m. by a special rescue unit from the 3rd Regional Coast Guard Headquarters, operating out of Yokohama.

The team’s initial rescue attempt failed after the dog, perhaps scared by the hovering helicopter, jumped from the roof over to nearby driftwood.

A rescue boat with three guardsmen was then dispatched and succeeded in catching the pooch an hour later by using rescue stretchers.

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