ÁGUILAS – On Friday, a family found an exhausted dog on Cope beach in the municipality of Águilas in Murcia. As the four-legged friend turned out to be alone, they handed her over to the local police. They checked the microchip and from that moment on a special story unfolded.
Jolie is the protagonist of a hard-to-believe story that could very well have ended badly. The dog turned out to be registered at a Danish address. Therefore, she was placed in the local shelter while officers tried to track down her owners.
Lost dog while sailing
During the investigation, the control room of the Spanish police station received a call from a woman from Cádiz. She explained that the daughter of a friend of hers from the United States had lost a dog while sailing.
Strong wind
The woman in question was sailing in the Mediterranean with her husband and their dog Jolie. Their final destination was Ibiza. At one point a strong wind arose. A gust of wind knocked the dog off her balance, causing her to fall into the sea. No matter how hard the people on board tried, they couldn’t find their dog. After a long search they had no choice but to give up their animal. A great tragedy. Until it turned out that it was Jolie that was found two days later on the beach of Águilas. The only explanation was that the dog had covered the enormous distance while swimming.
Reunited
The local police suspects that the dog had to swim for one or two days before reaching the coast. After Jolie’s owners were notified by the police that their dog was safe and sound in Murcia, they sailed as quickly as possible to Calpe, the nearest port at the time. A few hours later they were in Aguilas to be reunited with their dog.
The video on this page shows the tremendous joy of this miraculous reunion. The owner won’t stop saying “We’ve got her back” as the dog howls with excitement and doesn’t stop shaking and wagging her tail with joy.
More than 160 nautical miles (just under 300 km) lie between Ibiza and Águilas. While it’s not clear at what point the animal fell into the sea, the mere fact that it swam to shore is a miracle.
