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Lost San Diego Dog Rescued From Rip Current as Owners Report Recovery

After an AirTag narrowed the search area, a coordinated lifeguard–Coast Guard effort located the Labrador mix offshore for a reunion captured on department video.

Overview

  • Surfers at Ocean Beach alerted lifeguards that Sadie had been swept into a rip current near the jetty.
  • Lifeguard units with a U.S. Coast Guard boat searched by jet ski for about an hour before spotting her roughly a half-mile offshore near South Mission Beach.
  • Lifeguards Garrett Smerdon and Jack Alldredge reached the tired dog on personal watercraft and transferred her to a surf boat that brought her to shore.
  • Owners Alexis Barcellos and Brandon Valdez had tracked her nearly two miles using an AirTag and later thanked rescuers in a video shared by San Diego Fire-Rescue.
  • Barcellos says Sadie suffered damaged paws and nails but is recovering at home, having returned to the pet store and completed a 1.5-mile walk.