Dog Is Found Alive Month After Boat Sinks

lovechild · Post by **lovechild** » Thu Mar 04, 2004 2:12 pm

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) - A Labrador retriever has been found alive on an isolated cove of a Southeast Alaska island more than a month after its owner was given up for dead when his boat sank in rough seas.

Two local fishermen found the dog named Brick on Heceta Island several miles from the accident. The men had known the dog's owner, Greg Clark, who went down with his boat in late January.

Brick swam to the men's boat and was hauled aboard - underweight, with an injured leg, fur matted with tree sap, but wiggling with joy, according to friends of the fishermen.

The discovery of the 8-year-old dog last week sent a shock through the close-knit rain-forest community of mariners and loggers, who had given up hope of finding Clark, 48.

"I was blown away," said John Pugh, a friend of Clark who has custody of the animal.

The dog was starting to rebound, Pugh told the Anchorage Daily News. "He's hungry as hell and a little skinny, but he's doing all right."

Clark was lost after his 32-foot boat Katrina broke apart Jan. 22 on rocks near Cape Lynch on the west side of the island, among a cluster of islands within the 17 million-acre Tongass National Forest. Clark, a longtime beach logger who lived alone with half a dozen Labs and their pups, had been making a supply run into Craig from his home on Kosciusko Island when he radioed his boat had lost power.

With him was Brick, his constant companion, and a 2-month-old puppy Clark had planned to deliver to new owners in town.

A three-day search by local residents and Coast Guard crews found a rolled-up survival suit, part of the boat's stern and other debris, but no sign of Clark or his dogs.

Over the past month, people had resigned themselves that Clark and his dogs were gone, Pugh said. The animals left at home were adopted by Clark's brother in Oregon and friends in Alaska.

Then last Thursday, Kevin Dau - Pugh's partner in an oyster operation - was fishing for winter king salmon with his father off the northwestern coast of Heceta near the accident site. When the two men motored into Port Alice to anchor for the night, Dau saw a black animal on the beach.

"His father said, 'That's a wolf.' But Kevin said, 'No, that's Brick,' " Pugh said. "And he got out on the bow and started calling, 'Brick! Brick!'

Brick's survival alone on the thick, jungly island during harsh winter weather has amazed and moved local people, Pugh said.

"It's such a rural area, your friends are really your family out here, and Greg was family to all of us," he said. "Losing him, it's hard to explain to people how we really felt. He was such a unique person. It's hard to explain when you're having to search for him and you don't know what you're going to find. Then, after a month, to find Brick - it brings back a whole slew of feelings."

The Stormstress · Post by **The Stormstress** » Thu Mar 04, 2004 3:02 pm

Cool story ... thoze primal nstinctz can really pay off!

Beatrix Kiddo · Post by **Beatrix Kiddo** » Thu Mar 04, 2004 5:16 pm

I smell a Disney movie.

Coor · Post by **Coor** » Thu Mar 04, 2004 5:23 pm

I smell a Disney movie.

That's funny LMAO!

cutelittlepsycho20 · Post by **cutelittlepsycho20** » Fri Mar 05, 2004 4:03 am

Beatrix Kiddo wrote:I smell a Disney movie.

i agree with you competely

sounds like a Benji storyline. but then the news story would be: "injured dog saves owner's life after boat accident"

but none the less i would rather hear that the dog swam to safety, rather than him chopped to bits by the boat's propeller in the storm and cosumed by the neighboring sharks.

which is usually the only type of news you here anymore....the bad kind.

Ogre · Post by **Ogre** » Fri Mar 05, 2004 9:50 am

More like "Dog raises sunken ship and ervives dead owner"

cutelittlepsycho20 · Post by **cutelittlepsycho20** » Sun Mar 07, 2004 5:40 am

Ogre wrote:More like "Dog raises sunken ship and ervives dead owner"

Kick-ass! i never would have thought of that.

feline · Post by **feline** » Sat Mar 13, 2004 11:00 pm

Now i know why i love animals so much...they really are much smarter than most people!

Mother Mo · Post by **Mother Mo** » Sun Mar 14, 2004 12:45 pm

Oh, the poor puppies! :cry: