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The Royal New Zealand Navy has always prided itself on its rapid response to an emergency at sea, so when a jack russell terrier was swept 800m offshore it immediately began a rescue mission.
Biddy, a 17-year-old jack russell terrier, was swept from her Stanley Bay home to the mudflats at Ngataringa Bay, near the Devonport naval base.
A passer-by noticed the small shivering dog and a rising tide and alerted the Navy's sea safety training squadron.
Naval leading chef Regan Garrett volunteered to go to Biddy's rescue, stripping down to his underwear and braving the cold to wade into the mud and water.
The dog was suffering from hypothermia so naval general service hand Steve Davis took the bedraggled Biddy to the vet.
By good luck it was Biddy's usual vet and owner Judy Grieve was quickly tracked down.
Mrs Grieve was unsure how exactly Biddy got stuck in the mud but suspected she had wandered down the back of their house to a jetty and was swept out by a wave.
"She wasn't in good shape. She was lucky to survive, the dear old thing," Mrs Grieve said. She said Biddy's brother Bruno was normally the adventurous one.
The 12-year-old was a regular at the Devonport ferry terminal, sometimes catching ferries to downtown Auckland and then buses to "God knows where" but he always ended up back at home safe and sound.
However Biddy would be the canine on everybody's mind now.
"This was her big break," Mrs Grieve said.
Navy public relations manager Lieutenant Commander Barbara Cassin said it was a pleasure to help, adding: "We are pretty visible and will always help where we can."
