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| Sunday, 28 April 2002 |
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Dog stranded at sea rescued, U.S. coastguard said HONOLULU, Hawaii, April 26 (Reuters) - After being stranded at sea aboard a derelict refueling tanker for 24 days, a small white dog that touched the hearts of people around the world was rescued on Friday by the crew of a seagoing tugboat, U.S. Coast Guard officials in Honolulu said. The Coast Guard had sent the tugboat American Quest to keep the tanker Insiko 1907, crippled last month by a fire that killed one crewman,- from running aground on the pristine reefs of Johnston Atoll. Part of the crew's mission was to see if itcould rescue Forgea, a mixed-breed terrier that was left behind on the tanker when its crew was rescued April 2 by a passing cruise ship. American Quest pulled alongside the tanker and two crewmen went aboard about an hour later to inspect the ship and prepare it to be towed, said Capt. Gilbert J. Kanazawa, commanding officer of the Coast Guard's Marine Safety Office in Honolulu. "Once they went on board, the dog came right up to them," Kanazawa said. "They didn't have to go to too much effort to retrieve it." Earlier in the week, sailors from two long line fishing boats that found the Insiko were unable to catch Forgea, which one Honolulu TV station has dubbed "the miracle mutt." One of the two men who retrieved Forgea is a dog owner, said Rusty Nall, vice president of American Marine Corp., which owns the tugboat. "He's good with animals and has a nice personality and I think that had a lot to do with getting the dog," Nall said. The American Quest crewmen put Forgea in a portable kennel and Kanazawa said the dog was in "good shape" and drinking and eating. Pamela Burns, president of the Hawaiian Humane Society, was ecstatic. Her organization had started the effort to save the dog three weeks earlier by chartering the same tugboat, a pure coincidence, she said, for a $50,000 search. Ultimately, two searches could not find the dog and it was not until April 20 that a Coast Guard C-130 aircraft located the Insiko. "We're absolutely delighted," Burns said. "It's absolutely the outcome that thousands and thousands of people from around the world have wanted." Never before has one dog captured the attention of so many people, Burns said. "We are very thrilled and so relieved that Forgea is safe," she said. Kanazawa said plans are being made to bring the dog to the Hawaiian island of Kauai where it will remain under the normally imposed state animal quarantine for 120 days. The Taiwanese captain of the Insiko, owner of the dog, has told Burns that he will allow the dog to be adopted by a friend in Honolulu, Burns said. The tugboat found the tanker about 130 nautical miles east of Johnston Atoll, drifting due west. Its crew must now see if it can safely enter the ship to find the body of the crewman who was killed in the fire. |
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