Meet Sophie Tucker, an Australian Cattle dog who survived on an island for four months by herself.
Back in November, Jan Griffith and her family set out on a sailing trip off the northeast Queensland coast of Australia. The waters became choppy and sadly Sophie fell overboard. Jan and her family lost sight of Sophie in the choppy waters and she was presumed dead due to drowning. Naturally,the family was devastated.
Just last week, Jan had heard that a dog was found on St. Bee’s Island, five miles from the point of where Sophie fell overboard. Jan had to know if this could , in fact, be her beloved dog? After four long months, could this dog be Sophie? Could it be possible?
Shock of all shocks, Sophie Tucker was alive! But how did she survive on an unhibited island by herself for four months? Apparently, when Sophie fell off the boat she did what dogs do – she swam to the nearest land, while the boat her family was on, drifted furher and further away from her.
Apparently Sophie survived on carcasses of feral baby goats during her harrowing ordeal. I can’t imagine a beloved dog, all alone, with no humans in sight and not giving up. Perhaps, she knew she would be saved one day.
Last week’s reunion culminated in Sophie going crazy in her crate upon seeing her family for the first time in four months. She was heard whimpering and banging on her cage and when she was allowed out of the crate, she “just about flattened the family”. “She wriggled around like a mad thing.”
Jan has said that Sophie has adjusted quite easily to the comforts of home. Jan and her family wishes Sophie could talk, “we really do”. After four long months of not seeing her loving family, Sophie went “crazy” when she saw them.
It’s an unbelievable and heartwarming story to share for once. However, I believe there is a moral to Sophie’s ordeal.
For all those considering giving up their pet to a shelter, please remember Sophie’s story. Your dog won’t forget you even when you abandon him and or even if your dog has a similar (God forbid) experience to Sophie’s. Your dog loves you unconditionally and doesn’t forget you no matter how you try to forget about him or her.
If you are considering adopting, please make sure it’s for a lifetime. Don’t be selfish and think discarding a pet at a shelter doesn’t have an impact on that pet. I have seen too many once beloved pets so depressed in shelters. They don’t understand what they did to deserve to be stuck in a shelter not knowing their fate.
And your once-beloved pet would greet you in the same manner as Sophie did when she finally saw her family.
If you are going to take on the responsibility of having pet, please make sure it is for the pet’s entire lifetime. Pets are not meant to be discarded like yesterday’s trash.