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Dog rescued after being stranded on ferry ledge during sailing (VIDEO)

A black dog perched in a precarious position on the “bumper” of the Queen of New Westminster ferry was coaxed to safety by crew members on Thursday evening.
photo of dog on ferry ledge
Thursday, July 29, 2021: A dog wandered out onto an exterior ledge of the Queen of New Westminster ferry. It was eventually rescued. SANDCUT STUDIOS

A black dog perched in a precarious position on the “bumper” of the Queen of New Westminster ferry was coaxed to safety by crew members on Thursday evening.

Passengers spotted the dog as it moved around the edge of the rubbing strake, similar to a bumper on a car, just above the water, on the 6 p.m. ferry from Tsawwassen to Swartz Bay on Thursday.

“Some customers reported it to the crew and the captain stopped the vessel,” Deborah Marshall, B.C. Ferries’ spokesperson, said Friday.

Passenger Tyler Reeves said the ferry was stopped for about 20 minutes. The dog, which appeared to be an older puppy, eventually walked to the front of the car deck, where someone grabbed it and brought it to safety.

Marshall does not know how the dog made it to the outside of the vessel and onto the strake.

There are few incidents with dogs on ferries, said Marshall, who recalls a cocker spaniel named Daisy that disappeared from a ferry out of Horseshoe Bay and turned up two days later on Bowen Island.

Marshall had to take Daisy from Horseshoe Bay to her Nanaimo home and “not let it out of my sight … We wanted to make sure that poor dog got to its rightful owners … I took my responsibility very seriously.”

When Daisy arrived at Departure Bay and saw her owners, she was “tickled pink,” Marshall said.

cjwilson@timescolonist.com