Pug blown into sea drowned as jumper dragged her down
A DOG was blown into the sea by a gust of wind and drowned – after being dragged under by the weight of its hand-knitted jumper.
The pug, named Dora, was well known in her neighbourhood for the unusual outfits made by her owner Rita Greig and had won several ‘best dressed dog’ awards at local festivals.
But during a seaside walk the tiny pet was blown over a harbour wall and plunged 12ft into the North Sea.
She tried to paddle back to shore but it is believed she was hampered by the sodden weight of the red-and-white knitted jumper she was wearing.
Heartbroken Mrs Greig, 55, watched helplessly as her dog was swept away and drowned. ‘It was such a freak accident,’ she said. ‘Me and my daughter are absolutely devastated. She blew over the wall. It is only a couple of feet high.
‘I normally put coats on my dogs and somebody said to me afterwards the weight of the jumper wouldn’t have helped her. She only weighed about 2kg.’
Mrs Greig has knitted a wardrobe of outfits for 13-month- old Dora and her other pug, Jazz.
Shortly before her death Dora had won the best- dressed dog award at a festival for a knitted red cowboy costume. The dogs were well-known in their home town for their mini outfits, which also included a yellow Minion costume inspired by the animated film Despicable Me.
Tragedy struck last Sunday when Mrs Greig and her daughter Grace walked the dogs at the harbour near their home in Amble, Northumberland. After watching in horror as the dog was blown into the sea, Mrs Greig tried to rescue Dora. ‘ I took my coat off and went down to look for her and began swimming, but the sea was that rough that she was blown further and further away,’ she said.
‘It was silly to even attempt to get in after her. My daughter could’veShe added: been ‘Dora crying wouldn’tfor two of even us.’ jump in a puddle, she would skip around it. It was heartbreaking to watch her drowning.’
Passers-by who saw the distressing scene were in tears and a lifeboat was summoned to retrieve the animal’s body.
Mrs Greig added: ‘We had a terrible 30 minutes when we had to leave Jazz with Dora’s body so she knew she wasn’t coming back. We all miss her.’
The community has raised £200,000 for a lifeboat, but Mrs Greig said if there had been lifebelts nearby she would have stayed in the water longer trying to reach Dora. She said: ‘The more people that are aware the better – it could have been a toddler.’