Canine Castaway Reunited With Owner

A canine castaway lost at sea has been reunited with her owners after spending more than four months living off goats on a Queensland island in Australia.

Owner Jan Griffith said her family was devastated when their cattle dog, Sophie Tucker, fell off the side of their boat in choppy waters off the Mackay coast in north Queensland in late November.

But unbeknown to them, their hardy hound swam five nautical miles to St. Bees Island, where she survived until last week by hunting baby goats.

She was last week returned to her family after rangers captured what they believed was a wild dog. Griffith said she and her husband had contacted rangers after friends suggested the dog — who had earned a name for herself on the island — might be their long-lost pet.

Last Tuesday the couple met the rangers' boat as it ferried the dog back to the mainland and were blown away to find Sophie Tucker on board.

"We called the dog and she started whimpering and banging the cage and they let her out and she just about flattened us,'' Griffith said.

To read more about Sophie and how she survived the wilderness, head on over to news.com.au.