Man saves dog in boating mishap before rescuing his wife

[alp227]

You know that old adage about dogs being man’s best friend? Some dog owners are taking it way too seriously.

Case in point: The recent incident of a man who actually rescued his dog before his wife when their boat nearly capsized in rough waters.

Earlier this week, Graham Anley and his wife, Sheryl, were peacefully sailing along the shores of South Africa when they unexpectedly ran into treacherous waters near the Transkei Coast.

As the couple bravely battled roiling waves up to seven metres in height, their boat was swept onto the reef and the only option was to abandon ship.

What Anley did next was either a case of beyond-the-norm dog love or complete disregard for his spouse. Or possibly both.

Instead of taking his wife to safety first, Anley instinctively grabbed their nine-year-old Jack Russell terrier, Rosie, which was wearing a customized doggie-life jacket complete with emergency strobe lighting, and quickly swam her ashore (for the record, Jack Russells are terrific swimmers).

full: http://www.theglobeandmail.com/life/the-hot-button/man-saves-dog-in-boating-mishap-before-rescuing-his-wife/article13671272/

[Marrah_G]

1. Can't judge him, I wasn't there.

[OnyxCollie]

3. +1 nt

[B Calm]

5. LOL

[OnyxCollie]

20. ?

[B Calm]

22. I'm laughing at your picture and the subject matter of the orig post.

You get it now?

[OnyxCollie]

25. Would I save my dog before my girlfriend?

Well, I've never had an argument with my dog.

[Deep13]

2. GUILTY

This is the natural consequence of treating animals as if they were equal to or even superior to humans.

[TorchTheWitch]

7. Personally, I think most animals are superior to humans

Far more superior. Humans are a hideous ugly stain on the planet. We're so self-centered we gladly sacrifice the good of everyone for the good of ourselves. We're so stupid we don't even know how to use our own instincts anymore and are mostly not able to recognize we even have them. We developed a method of communication that allows us to lie to each other and we don't even recognize having the ability to lie is a problem in and of itself. We follow totally incompetant leaders and are too stupid to know how to get rid of them or even realize they need getting rid of for the good of the whole. We're irrational. We're greedy. We're selfish. We're so irrational greedy and selfish we'll destroy the planet and thus our own species as well as all the others and without a thought. And we're so stupid we think we're superior and smart to have invented nasty ways of killing the planet, ourselves and everything else. We developed superior intelligence yet use it in all the wrong and worst of ways. We thoroughly suck. If that's considered superiority over other species than we're even more pathetic and completely unworthy. Nature's experiment in creating the supposedly intelligent creature was a total fucking flop.

[msanthrope]

9. You know, if there's ever a name amnesty again, I might be willing to give this one up. nt

[Hassin Bin Sober]

10. LoL

[msanthrope]

14. I take that as a high compliment, since you have one of my favorite usernames

on DU. "Courtesy Flush" is another fave--I admire the sheer unabashed joy of it.

[DrDan]

13. well said

[lumberjack_jeff]

23. I think you could make some bank by auctioning it. n/t

[msanthrope]

31. Your username has a leitmotif for me....

I can't help it....it's every damn time I see your username!!!

[lumberjack_jeff]

32. What can I say, cutting hair wasn't my thing. n/t

[msanthrope]

36. Hairdressers are pretty hardcore....

[DrDan]

12. some use "superior" intellect to pursue objects of their personal greed

others seek solutions to problems surrounding our fate - curing disease, solving global warming issues, creating an environment more suitable toward our prolonged existence, feeding and caring for the poor.

Your description of humans focuses only on the bad - which undeniably exists. However, it is not as ubiquitous as you claim.

And I have seen animals, to include dogs, protecting their own "kills"/food, not sharing with others. Or eating as much and as fast as possible. Have you never witnessed this "greed" in other animals, to include personal pets?

I am not saying humans are not greedy. Just that there is also "good" in humans, as well as "greed" in our pets and other animals..

[BlueJazz]

16. What you say is true...as a species. There are, however, degrees of shittiness.

My observation is about 7-10 percent of Americans are pretty much, the opposite of what you wrote....which I hope I'm a part of that group and you probably are also.

Having pointed out the obvious, we're still royally fucked.

[NCTraveler]

21. lol. nt.

[Deep13]

43. Remember when being a misanthrope was considered a bad thing.

You would allow your own self-hatred to kill someone, making that self-hatred justified.

[LWolf]

35. Guilty of what?

Of helping the weaker, more vulnerable family member first?

Humans ARE animals. You are suggesting that humans should be species-centric, I suppose.

Most are. That's why the planet is in such a mess, and why we’re now losing species at 1,000 to 10,000 times the background rate.

Meanwhile, who are the dogs taking care of?

[Deep13]

41. It's a somewhat joking response to the previous post.

And yeah, regardless of what middle class Americans tell themselves, dogs are not people and, therefore, are not members of the family. It is a moral and ethical outrage to save a dog while a person continues to be in danger.

[LWolf]

44. To you.

A moral and ethical outrage to you. To the species-centric. Not to all.

[Egalitarian Thug]

40. I've known lots of both, and the animals win, hands down.

Of course, not all animals are good and not all people are bad, but on the whole, the animals are far more helpful and trustworthy.

Add the fact that people are the only players in this scenario that has a choice, and the answer is easy.

[Deep13]

42. That's very said.

I hope you are never in this situation, because you would probably kill someone with your fucked up morality.

[newfie11]

4. Maybe the wife told him to rescue the dog first

Maybe they just need a Newfoundland dog along next time to rescue all of them lol

[JI7]

6. this seems like one of those stories where if we were there

we wouldn't think anything about it.

i'm guessing it wasn't a case of if he didn't get his wife first at that moment she might die and he risked that happening.

[Fla_Democrat]

8. Does remind me of the old joke

It's raining, your wife is at the front door, with out her keys, wanting you to open it. Your dog is at the back door, whining and scratching to get in. Which door do you open first?

[REP]

11. Her safety line was snagged in the steering gear

I'm guessing that she wasn't in immediate danger but would have taken longer to free. Just a guess.

[msanthrope]

15. Kid, dog, husband.....that would be my list, in order. The thing is, our Black Lab

is so friggen' awesome, I think the husband would agree with the list.

[BainsBane]

17. It certainly sounds bad

but it might have been that the woman was okay and the dog was in greater danger. Jack Russels are tiny little things. On the other hand, the wife may want to re-evaluate their relationship.

[treestar]

18. Maybe the wife can swim

And the water was such that she could save herself.

[magical thyme]

19. Right priorities :)

His dog was 9 years old, so getting up there. Also very small and more easily swept away by the rough seas. I'm guessing he and his wife also had life jackets on, and she probably was also a strong swimmer. As soon as he saw her safety line was snagged, he returned for her.

I commend him for rescuing the weaker of his friends first, and returning for the stronger one when it was clear she needed help.

[Phentex]

30. I think I would have done the same...

I think of my dog as my child and I would instinctively rescue a child first.

[mrs_p]

24. Maybe his wife insisted

I probably would have wanted our border collie saved first, as I am the better swimmer.

[Jamastiene]

26. Mhm...

And?

I mean, he DID go back and rescue his wife too. It's not like he let her drown or anything. If I was straight and married to a man, I would tell him to rescue my pets first, then come back for me. I don't really understand the outrage some people might have over this.

[Vattel]

27. My girlfriend once accused me of loving my cat more than her.

To which I replied that I had known my cat longer. Soon after, we broke up.

[PCIntern]

34. Preference of pussy?

Now there's a basis for an argument....

[olddots]

28. you left an opening (sorry)

" did you see the dog I got for my wife ? "

" wow good trade "

[Phentex]

29. My son and I heard this on the radio and I said

I'd have saved the dog first, too, because I feel he's most helpless.

[LisaL]

33. Dogs aren't helpless by any means.

They can swim-better than people. Some people drown trying to save their dogs. But many of those dogs survived.

[lame54]

37. The headline should read...

"Hero saves dog and wife."

[Gidney N Cloyd]

38. The guy was a "sea rescue volunteer." I suspect he knew how to size things up quickly.

Besides, that dog was the only one of the three who had no say in being there and no idea of the potential for the problem they found themselves in.

[riderinthestorm]

39. My husband did something similar to me, except it was a horse instead of a dog

I had a major wreck when my rig got bumped by a semi on a major road at 55 mph. My truck went one direction into the ditch and the trailer detached (sheared off the stabilizer bars even), rolling several times before landing on its side on the opposite shoulder.

I was fine. Seatbelts are wonderful things. A woman came out of the house next door and came running over asking if I was okay. "Call my husband at xxx-xxxx! He's at home and @ 20 minutes away and I'm going to need help", I hollered. She ran back to the house and I ran to the trailer.

So like most wrecks, traffic was stopped for a long time. A trucker lifted me onto the top of the trailer and I could see the horse inside was upright and didn't appear to have any limbs broken. By then another trucker had come by and he clambered up alongside me and dropped me inside the trailer through the broken window.

The mare was trembling but surprisingly unscathed. Her forelock had been scalped and she had a lot of superficial cuts and scrapes but miraculously I couldn't see anything tremendously wrong.

Two other truckers managed to tear the back door off the trailer with crowbars, it just flopped onto the ground and the mare and I stumbled off over the top of it.

Firetrucks, ambulances, state police... you name it, quite the scene.

When my husband arrived, he saw two things - the mare grazing on one side of the road with a fireman and me at the back of the ambulance. Who to go to first?!

He chose the mare to check on first. And I was perfectly okay with that. I was clearly upright and with medical professionals (and I'm guessing the husband in the OP assessed his wife was in a similarly "safe" situation), while the horse who relied upon us to take care of her was being handled by someone he didn't know was trustworthy or capable.

Oh, and I was 5 months pregnant.

And I was still okay with the fact he went to check the mare first.

We weren't there for that boating accident and I wouldn't dare presume to judge.