“That Dog Was Swimming With Everything It Had,” Newport Rescuer Says

posted: January 28th, 2011 04:05 pm | 8Comments

Sean Acosta and a group of his friends were enjoying a sunny Sunday afternoon on his boat “Artemis” when he thought he saw a log, or maybe a seal, in the water about a half-mile off Little Corona beach.

“It was directly in front of me, so I made a course adjustment,” he said today in an interview in his Lido Island home. “I passed it, I slowed down a bit. I didn’t have a lot of time. And I noticed it was a small dog.”

The dog, a 2-year-old Pomeranian named Fannie, had been on board another boat that left Newport Beach for Emerald Bay about the same time as Acosta headed out. Somehow, the dog fell from her owner’s vessel and had been swimming frantically in the choppy, cold water.

By the time Acosta turned his 60-foot boat around, Fannie was paddling toward him.

“I’ll never forget,” Acosta said. “It was looking up desperately. It saw us pass and it circled around as if trying to catch up with us. It was struggling to stay above the surface. That dog was swimming with everything it had to get to us.”

Acosta called to his friends that this was an emergency as he carefully backed his boat toward the dog. When they were close enough, they grabbed the dog by its collar and pulled it out of the water. They immediately wrapped Fannie in towels, trying to dry it and warm it.

“It was shaking severely,” Acosta said. “It was just trembling, trembling, trembling. It was heartbreaking.”

He turned back the boat while his friends kept the dog, which weighs about 15 pounds, in the warm sun, trying to get it to drink and rubbing it with towels. Back at his slip, the dog finally was able to drink some water and eat some grilled chicken breast.

“It looked like it was going to be OK,” Acosta said. The dog stayed with him Sunday night, along with his three other dogs and a pet bird.

On Monday, Acosta said, he began to look for the Fannie’s owner, using a telephone number from a tag on the collar. For three days, he said, he tried to track down the owner.

And he became more upset that the dog had been left in such a vulnerable position.

“I was very angry that anyone would have a dog out there without a life vest,” he said.

When he and the owner eventually spoke on Wednesday afternoon, he told he would return the dog to her only if she showed up at her door with a pet life vest in hand.

“She hugged the dog and was crying,” Acosta said. “But loving your dog isn’t enough. If you don’t feed it, get it medical attention, get a life vest for it — your love is pointless.”

He declined the reward she offered.

“Any decent human being would do the same thing,” he said.

The owner did not return a call seeking comment for this story.

Acosta said he believes God put him on course to find and save Fannie.

“I’m confident the dog wouldn’t have lasted another five minutes,” he said.

Acosta said he wishes it were illegal to take a dog on a boat without a live vest. Vests, according to a sales clerk at West Marine, cost about $25.

“I’ll never forget the image, the look in her face, struggling for her life,” he said. “It’s indelible.”

Read our earlier stories here and here; and click here to read about a Maltese named Marshall who was reunited with his owner earlier this month.

Photo courtesy of Sean Acosta.

« »

8 Responses to ““That Dog Was Swimming With Everything It Had,” Newport Rescuer Says”

Comments

Geoff West

January 28th, 2011

A happy end to a potentially tragic story. Thanks for folloein through on this.

jamie

January 28th, 2011

LOL - Ok, so it was sort of a reverse of the Goldie Hawn / Kurt Russel movie "Overboard." LOL "Dog falls off boat, is rescued by luxury yacht and treated to gourmet grilled chicken breast, joins new family, then has to go back to living old life." Only in Corona del Mar could this actually happen. LOL I'm glad this story had a happy ending and we can joke about it a little, but Mr. Acosta has a good point. Not having a dog I never thought about life jackets for them. This should be a lesson for anyone taking their dog out to sea. Sailors medal of the month to Mr.Acosta and his crew!

Sandra

January 28th, 2011

Good for him not returning the dog until he saw a vest. I guess it also takes a village to raise a dog.

john

January 28th, 2011

why so many dog stories this month? Some of us are cat people, or bird people.

lisa

January 29th, 2011

great story and I am cracking up people are actually complaining you are not writing about cats or birds.

Corona del Mar Today Staff

January 29th, 2011

Reply to

john

January 28, 2011

why so many dog stories this month? Some of us are cat people, or bird people.

I know, right? I'm not even a dog owner by the way. (Or cat or bird.) I think it's the news cycle. I'll sometimes write a bunch of stories in row about fire and safety, then it'll be all City Council, and this past two weeks were dogs. That being said, if anyone ever heard about a lost bird or cat and wanted a story on this site, let me know!

Mary Lou

January 29th, 2011

All stories about saving a animal or human from drowning are worthy. By the the ad for Lumber Jax? that's my old wood guy! He is so nice and reasonable.

Meghan

January 29th, 2011

First I want to express my appreciation to Mr Acosta for his finding and rescuing of our wonderful Fannie.  She loves the water, the boat,the dingy, the paddle board and trips to Catalina. She made her first trip to the island when she was only 10 weeks. While she is fearless and very adventurous, we should not have let her run free around the boat while underway. She must have been surprised by a wake or wave and lost her balance, falling into the chilly water. Once we discovered her disappearance we started an exhaustive search mission on the water that lasted till nightfall. After that we scrambled up and down the harbor breakwater with flashlights hoping Fannie had been able to scramble up on the rocks. With the coast guard and animal shelter notified all we could do was wait to hear if she had been found. The next day I cruised the harbor entrance area desperately searching for her even if only to find her body so I could have some closure. I spent the three days since her going overboard, distraught, unable to work, sleep or think coherently, crying and beating myself up over our carelessness that allowed Fannie to slip to her almost certain drowning. After placing flyers all around the area and informing all fannies friends at the local dog park in corona del mar, we were still hopeful that someone would find her and that the identification chip in her would make sure we got her back. Of course we have been beating ourselves up over this incident and still now after getting her back cannot believe how quickly and silently she dissapeared.  Thankfully it was a beautiful day with many boats cruising around and we felt it would have been possible for someone to have seen her paddling for her life. When we got the call that she had been found we were of course besides ourselves with joy and knowing what she went through, cherish her more than ever. Mr Acosta, while we will be for ever grateful to you, your actions are completely unacceptable. How dare you not report your finding Fannie immediately to the coast guard or to the animal shelter. You had my number on the collar. You should have called me immediately when you rescued her. Fannie is happy to be back at home and just chased balls at the park and played with all her friends.

Leave a comment

Top News

Puppy Lost in Pipe Despite Three-Hour, "Feverish" Rescue Effort

Pacific View to Host 55th Annual Memorial Day Ceremony

CdM Sidewalk Cleaning Set For Week of June 10

From the Police Log: Vandalism, Thefts, DUI and Drug Arrests

Amy the Ranter

Crazy Driver

Birthdays on Facebook

Bird Crap

Brrr, Part Two

CDM Youth Sports

NJB All Star Team Selected

Team CDM Places Third in Soccer Championships

Spartans Win League; Remain Undefeated

Newport-Mesa D3 Spartans Remain Undefeated