Some eagle-eyed boaters hauled an exhausted Jack Russell Terrier from the Gulf of Mexico earlier this week.
The terrier–a male named Jagermeister–disappeared from his master’s boat five miles off of Florida’s Gulf Coast Tuesday.
A Jack Russell Terrier named Jagermeister who spent three hours lost in the Gulf of Mexico rests after being rescued by a pair of couples
Photo Credit: Shawn Sahr
Fortunately, Jagermeister was wearing a life vest, enabling him to stay above the lukewarm current near Herando Beach.
“It’s like a needle in a haystack and the waves were pretty choppy,” Michael Sahr told WTVT News, the television station that broke the story.
“You just saw his little nose sticking up out of the water,” said Shawn Sahr, wife of Michael Sahr. “If we weren’t within five to 10 feet, we wouldn’t have seen him.”
Bruce Knecht was the first to spot the dog. He and his wife, Robin Knecht, have an annual tradition of boating off the coast of Herando Beach with the Sahrs.
The dog wound up in the water when his master went down to the cabin, officials said. By the time he came back to the deck, Jagermeister was nowhere in sight.
Michael Sahr dove into the gulf to retrieve the animal. Jagermeister was delivered to a nearby Coast Guard station and reunited with his owner after the three-hour ordeal.
The owner’s name was not given.