ViralPressWorkers on an oil rig located 135 miles from shore in the Gulf of Thailand couldn’t believe their eyes when they saw a dog paddling near them.
The riggers called out to her, and she responded. Swimming through the depths of the ocean towards the rig, the poor dog looked absolutely exhausted, its brown head just about visible above the – thankfully – calm waves.
The beautiful, brave girl took refuge among some metal bars, before workers lowered a rope and were able to pull the tough little dog to safety.
You can see the remarkable rescue effort for yourself in the following clip:
The dog – whose name is unknown – stayed aboard the drilling platform for two nights, being given some much needed food and drink while workers welded a special cage for her and radioed for assistance.
After regaining some of her strength – and a gorgeous smile – the dog was then lifted by crane to another oil vessel which had been passing through the area. She was then taken to be checked over by vets in Songkhla, southern Thailand.
Posted by Vitisak Payalaw on Friday, 12 April 2019
Oil rigger Khon Vitisak, who rescued the dog, has no idea how she came to be swimming about so far from land. If no owner comes forward to claim her, then heroic Vitisak would like to adopt her himself.
Vitisak said:
We found her trying to swim towards our rig, which is about 135 miles from the shore. Thankfully the sea was quite still because the wind was calm.
We just saw her small head but if the ripples were bigger, I think we probably wouldn’t have noticed her at all.
After she made it onto the bars below the rig she didn’t cry or bark at all. We looked for a way to help her and in the end, decided to use the rope to tie around her body to lift her up.
When we first took her onboard she was depressed and tired from being in the water for a long time. She had lost her body water.
When we gave her water and minerals her symptoms improved. She started sitting up and walking normally.
Posted by Vitisak Payalaw on Friday, 12 April 2019
The dog is now being looked after by volunteers from the animal charity Watchdog Thailand, who are still in the dark as to whether she’s a stray or somebody’s pet.
As to how the dog got herself into this situation, there’s the possibility she swam over from the shore, or boarded a boat before jumping off.
Watchdog Thailand state:
The boat arrived at 10am and the dog was in good spirits. We took her to the vets to be checked and she was found to be healthy. Everybody who played a part in co-coordinating the rescue has done a brilliant job.
Posted by Vitisak Payalaw on Monday, 15 April 2019
Well done to Khon Vitisak and the rest of the oil rig team for rescuing this precious animal.
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Jules studied English Literature with Creative Writing at Lancaster University before earning her masters in International Relations at Leiden University in The Netherlands (Hoi!). She then trained as a journalist through News Associates in Manchester. Jules has previously worked as a mental health blogger, copywriter and freelancer for various publications.