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Scared by fireworks exploding in the sky, Ruby the bitch ran, ran and ran, and ended up stranded on an island off a New Plymouth beach.
The 5-year-old Labrador Retriever was so terrified by the noise that he fled four kilometers from his Bulkeley Tce home to Back Beach, an area he had rarely been to.
Terrified of the water, she reached Motuotamatea / Snapper Rock by walking towards it at low tide, but when the tide rose, she was trapped and could not swim to shore.
Owner Ann Hurring was working at the Todd Energy Aquatic Center near her home when Ruby escaped around 8 p.m. on November 5. When she got home she found two doors open and Ruby was nowhere to be seen.
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SIMON O’CONNOR / Things
Ann Hurring’s dog, Ruby, ran more than four kilometers from her home and ended up on a beach she rarely visits.
“I came home and she knocked and opened the doors,” he said.
Ruby had also jumped the six-foot fence in a panic.
“He is scared by fireworks, thunder, anything noisy that he can run a mile from.”
SIMON O’CONNOR / Things
Ruby spent six days trapped on the island, but is now recovering from dehydration and the foot injuries she sustained.
In the darkness and pouring rain, Hurring ran through the streets of New Plymouth calling Ruby and contacted the kennel, but could not find her.
“She had almost all of New Plymouth looking for her.”
They told him that Ruby had been spotted on Brooklands Rd, so he had moved his search efforts to Vogeltown, but still couldn’t find her.
But almost a week later, while slowly losing hope that they could find Ruby, Hurring was surprised to receive a phone call from the kennel.
Ruby had found herself on Snapper Rock, one of the Sugar Loaf Islands.
SIMON O’CONNOR / Things
Beach walker Ray Peterson found Ruby on Snapper Rock, one of the Sugar Loaf Islands that sits just off New Plymouth’s Back Beach.
“I cried tears of relief.”
Beach Rd resident Ray Paterson was going for his morning walk down Back Beach at 7:30 a.m. on Nov. 11 when he heard barking coming from the island.
“I thought that was unusual because there was no one around,” he said.
Unable to see anything or reach the island due to high tide, he returned around 10.30am when it was low and walked to the rock to investigate.
He climbed the rock face to the line of bushes, where he saw Ruby hunched over 10 meters away, frail and injured. But he didn’t want to get too close in case she was aggressive.
“She stopped barking when I reached her.”
Initially, the 70-year-old man called police because he thought a fisherman might be in trouble on the other side of the island, and the dog was alerting him, but got no response.
Then he realized that she had been there for some time.
“I was very thirsty because I was licking the rocks.”
SIMON O’CONNOR / Things
Hurring couldn’t believe it when they told him that Ruby had been found.
Instead, Paterson called the kennel and workers completed the dangerous rescue, ripping Ruby off the rock and carrying her back ashore as the tide rose.
There were concerns for Ruby’s health, as she was severely dehydrated, had cuts on her legs, and was limping.
But just two days after being rescued, she was recovering well and Hurring had called Paterson to thank him for finding her.
“He was so weak he couldn’t stand up,” Hurring said.
“It’s a really amazing story.”
Hurring said he would write a petition to try to ban the public sale of fireworks and had a message for the people who continued to do so.
“Think twice. It’s not just about us, is it? It’s terrible that we have to go through this every year.”
