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The dog had wandered away from her owners' temporary accommodation last month while they were watching a football game
Via AP news wireFriday 05 December 2025 02:23 GMT
open image in galleryA U.S. Coast Guard boat and lifeguards searched the area after the dog disappeared into the channel, officials said. (San Diego Fire-Rescue via AP)
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A pup has been rescued from a powerful rip current off the San Diego coast in an extraordinary turn of events, after she was swept out to sea.
Sadie, the black Labrador retriever-mix, had wandered away from her owners' temporary accommodation last month while they were watching a football game. Her owners were able to track her movements down the coast using an AirTag attached to her collar. Surfers in Ocean Beach raised the alarm with lifeguards after spotting a dog being pulled into a rip current near the jetty.
A search operation was launched involving a U.S. Coast Guard boat and local lifeguards. Lifeguards Garrett Smerdon and Jack Alldredge spent over an hour on personal watercraft scouring the area after Sadie disappeared into the channel. They were reportedly told they had only ten minutes left to continue the search.
open image in gallerySadie's paws and nails were badly damaged from trying to climb onto the jetty. (San Diego Fire-Rescue via AP)“At that point, I kind of just said, ‘Please let us find this dog,’” Alldredge said.
Knowing that Labs are water dogs and fighters, there was a good chance Sadie was still alive, Smerdon said. They were called off, but while they were still far out, Alldredge thought he saw something.
“We got closer and closer, and then we realized it was her and we were pretty excited,” he said.
They raced over to Sadie.
“She was super happy to see us, for sure,” Smerdon said. “She was tired.”
Sadie, who was about a half-mile (0.8 kilometers) offshore near South Mission Beach when she was found, was transferred to a surf boat that brought her to shore, where she was reunited with her owners, officials said.
In a video message, Sadie's owners, Alexis Barcellos and Brandon Valdez, said they would be forever grateful.
Barcellos recalled in the video that just as the search was being called off, she heard a call on the radio that they had found the dog.
“And we kind of just held our breath, and they were like, and the dog is alive,” she said. “And we kind of just started crying right away.”
Sadie's paws and nails were badly damaged from trying to climb onto the jetty, so Barcellos and Valdez had to carry her around for about a week, Barcellos said Thursday. But she has been in great spirits and this week Sadie made her first trip to the pet store since the rescue to pick out a treat and took her first 1.5 mile (2.4 kilometers) walk.
“We are just beyond grateful she is home safe with us,” she said.