Sadie on the rescue boat. Photo / San Diego Fire-Rescue via The Washington Post
It was a sunny Sunday on San Diego’s Ocean Beach when lifeguards noticed surfers in a panic.
They were waving their boards from a jetty, desperately trying to get the lifeguards’ attention.
There was a dog in the water in distress. About five surfers tried to help the dog on to the jetty, but she got spooked and jumped back into the water, where she was pulled out by a powerful rip current and was fighting to keep her head above water, said Marine Safety Lieutenant Ryan Foster with San Diego Fire-Rescue.
The dog, Sadie, a Labrador retriever mix, had got out of an Airbnb nearby and bolted to the beach.
“This was very out of character for her,” said Alexis Barcellos, 30, one of Sadie’s owners, explaining that the dog’s nickname is “Sissy Lala” because she’s so timid.
The day it happened, November 23, Barcellos was at a nearby restaurant watching a football game with her boyfriend, Brandon Valdez. Her mum and brother went back to the Airbnb where the family was staying – and when they opened the door, Sadie ran out.
Barcellos got a panicked call from her mum and located Sadie using the AirTag in her collar.
The family rushed to Ocean Beach and found a search for their dog already underway. Barcellos wanted to jump in the water and look for her dog, but lifeguards stopped her, warning that the riptide current was too strong.
“I was with the family and I was just describing to them what we were doing to look for the dog,” Foster said.
There was a rescue boat and rescue water craft searching for Sadie, plus a Coast Guard boat that happened to be in the area. A lifeguard was searching the jetty on foot.
The two lifeguards on the rescue water craft – Jack Alldredge, 30, and Garrett Smerdon, 33 – headed in the direction they thought Sadie would have been pulled. The 2pm sun glare reflecting off the water made it hard to see anything looking west.
“We knew we wanted to head out as far west as possible to be able to look east towards the beach to give us the best chance of spotting Sadie,” Smerdon said.
Thirty minutes went by. Then 40.
“We started losing hope,” said Barcellos, who lives in Los Banos, in central California.
After an hour, Foster radioed Smerdon and Alldredge and told him to look for 10 more minutes. Foster started to explain to Barcellos and Valdez that they had to call off the search.
“As I was saying this to the two owners, that’s when Jack and Garrett came back over the radio,” Foster said. “‘Hey, we found her, we got her, she’s safe.’”
“We just broke down,” Barcellos said.
Alldredge jumped in the water and helped Sadie on to the sled on the back of the rescue water craft, which resembles a Jet Ski. The dog climbed aboard; they were about three-quarters of a mile (1km) from the shore.
“She was definitely tired and shaken up,” Alldredge said.
“She knew that we were there to help her,” Smerdon added.
The two lifeguards transferred the dog to the rescue boat nearby, where Sadie was wrapped in blankets and brought back to shore.
“She looked super traumatised,” said lifeguard Joe Via, who was on the rescue boat trying to comfort Sadie and keep her warm.
“It was pretty emotional for everybody,” Foster said. “We are all dog owners and we all love dogs.”
Barcellos and Valdez – who adopted Sadie and her sister Remi about five years ago – brought Sadie to an emergency vet, where they checked out and treated her for minor injuries.
Sadie’s paws were cut from scrambling on the jetty and her heart rate was elevated. They brought her home that night.
“It’s been over a week and a half now, and yesterday I took her on her first walk post-injury,” Barcellos said on Friday.
Normally Sadie goes on three- or four-mile (5-6km) runs with Barcellos, so she said it’s been hard for Barcellos to stay home and rest.
“Her tail was tucked and she was scared and limping at first, but after a week and a half, she’s almost back to herself,” Barcellos said.
She said she is thankful to have Sadie back, and is beyond grateful to the San Diego Fire-Rescue Department. The lifeguards have been overwhelmed by the response to the rescue.
“You know, we save hundreds of people, but it’s always the dogs that get the most engagement,” Foster said.
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