A leisurely paddle around Avalon Bay on July 1 turned into a harrowing experience for an 8-year-old miniature pinscher, when she was sucked into the storm drain on the sea wall adjacent to the stairs at Step Beach.
The dog, Zoey, was out paddle boarding with her owners, Kymberlee and Paul Stanley. They were returning to the shore and Zoey, wearing her life vest with a shark fin, was swimming towards the steps to exit the water. She missed or was pulled past the steps and was suddenly sucked into the storm drain and disappeared.
She was seen getting pulled into the drain by several people, who immediately called 911. Lifeguards quickly got to the drain and attempted to swim in to find Zoey. But the drain was filled with water and was extremely dark.
“I didn’t think she had survived,” Kymberlee said.
But rescue workers continued to search. Members of the Fire Department, Harbor Patrol and lifeguards continued to search. A scuba diver was able to go deeper into the drain and discovered that the drain did open up as it went under the street, so workers began looking through grates and opening manhole covers.
They found an open area above the water line and located Zoey above the water line. Rescuers went into the drain, but the scared dog cowered in a small space. Her dad, Paul, had to climb down into the space to call her out and Zoey climbed down to him.
Paul lifted the dog out of the manhole to cheers from a crowd that had gathered out of concern for the little dog. Kymberlee estimated it took more than 30 minutes to even confirm that Zoey had not drowned. Kymberlee said she and Paul were extremely grateful to all the responders who worked quickly to locate Zoey.
She said Zoey had inhaled some water into her lungs, but after treatment at the veterinary office, she was quickly on the mend.
“Dr. Denny took good care of her,” Kymberlee said.
The city is looking to cover the drain with some kind of grate, to prevent another incident like this one occurring. The Islander was not able to confirm if the grate was in place before press time, but did get confirmation that the project was in the works.
