Dogone!

Washington Man Jumps Off Ferry to Rescue Dog
August 16, 2004 06:11 AM EDT

BREMERTON, Wash. - When Jeff Fisher noticed his dog had gone overboard, he wasn't sure if the ferry would stop to retrieve Ruben. So the Bremerton man jumped off the ferry into Puget Sound's chilly waters to save his beloved Labrador-blue heeler mix. "He's as much a part of our family as our baby will be," Fisher said as he dried himself off after being pulled out of the water Friday evening. He and his wife are expecting their first child.

It all started when the ferry Hyak had engine trouble and stopped on the way from Seattle to Bremerton. Fisher and Ruben got out of their car to see what was going on and while Fisher was talking to some other dog owners, Ruben disappeared. "A guy said, 'Your dog just jumped overboard!'" Fisher told The (Bremerton) Sun.

Ruben apparently went overboard as the ferry was starting up again. Fisher said he ran to the back of the boat, saw someone point to a dog in the water, then grabbed a life buoy, jumped in and started swimming. Once in the water, he could no longer see Ruben. "It was really hard to see in those big waves," he said Saturday in an interview with KIRO Television.

The ferry stopped, backed up and sent out a life boat to rescue both Fisher and Ruben. "I was expecting to be in trouble ... but they totally understood that I had to get my dog," he said.

Fisher said the ferry crew were "nothing but nice the whole time," although they advised him to keep his dog on a leash next time. "We obviously do not encourage people to jump into the water from the ferry," said Patricia Patterson, spokeswoman for Washington State Ferries. "But I understand the reaction. If it were my dog, I likely would have done the same thing." Fisher didn't need to jump, though. Ferry crew members are trained to stop to rescue any pet that goes overboard.

Samantha Fisher said she was "freaked out" when she saw her husband in the water. "I didn't want to lose a husband and a dog five weeks before I had a baby," she said. "But it didn't surprise me that he jumped. He's been a lifeguard for a long time, and he loves dogs."