A tiny chihuahua named Tinkerbell got her very own fairytale ending after falling from a boat into the sea with her owner when she was miraculously found in the darkness sheltering underneath a jetty.
The owner and the dog both fell overboard into a Florida marina at around 7.30pm on February 17. The owner was immediately pulled from the water but Tinkerbell became lost in the commotion as the sun was setting.
After an unsuccessful half an hour of searching by the owner’s friends and the local fire department, Officer Michael Skinner of Sarasota Police Department eventually went out in his boat and found the dog perched on a piling underneath a dock.
The rescue mission was recorded on body cam footage and shows the moment Tinkerbell was reunited with a friend of the owner, who appeared ecstatic to hold the small seafaring pup again.
The incident took place within the marina of the Sarasota Yacht Club, which adjoins the Gulf of Mexico. Skinner said the water was around 70 degrees that night.
Tinkerbell the Chihuahua was found 45 minutes after falling overboard and perched on a pile underneath a jetty
Officer Michael Skinner (right) poses for a photo with a friend of Tinkerbell (center) and a friend of her owner
‘We were looking for a little dog in a lot of water,’ Skinner, who is a marine patrol officer, told the Suncoast News Network. ‘You know with the cool water, small dog, 45 minutes, I knew we were pressed against finding her pretty quickly.’
‘That area is deep and a lot of the docks there are very high, there’s not a lot of shoreline, there’s a lot of seawall, so the places for a dog to get out and rescue itself are very limited. Hats off to Tinkerbell for finding a safe spot to hold herself above water,’ said Officer Skinner.
In the video Skinner can be heard calling the dogs name endearingly as he scours the darkening marina, scanning the waters with a flashlight.
‘Tinkerbell, hope you don’t bite. Tinkerbell, come on pup, pup. Hey, Tinkerbell, that’s a lovely name for a Chihuahua. I hope you’re nice,’ the officer is heard saying in the video.
Skinner has become somewhat of a local celebrity. On Thursday he appeared on local show Suncoast View and used the opportunity to address boat safety more generally.
‘I was pretty surprised that I found her, I think she was surprised at the same time,’ he said on the show.
The heartwarming moment at the end of the video captures the excitement and gratitude of the owner’s friends and being reunited with Tinkerbell.
‘I don’t know what to say, I just want to hug you!’ a women who held the dog could be heard telling Skinner. ‘How did you do that? This is just unbelievable, we’ve just been looking and looking and looking.’
The moment Sarasota police officer Michael Skinner was handed Tinkerbell over to a grateful friend of the owner was captured on his body cam
In the video Skinner can be heard calling the dogs name endearingly as he scours the darkening marina, scanning the waters with a flashlight
‘I don’t know what to say, I just want to hug you!’ a women who held the dog after its rescue could be heard saying in the video
Skinner has become somewhat of a local celebrity. On Thursday he appeared on local show Suncoast View and used the opportunity to address boat safety more generally
‘You found him. I can’t believe it. You saved the dog,’ a man said as he shook Skinner’s hand
The incident took place within the marina of the Sarasota Yacht Club (pictured), which adjoins the Gulf of Mexico
‘You found him. I can’t believe it. You saved the dog,’ one man said as he gave the police officer a warm shake of the hand.
‘I don’t know how I found her, to be honest,’ said Skinner told Suncoast News.
‘About 15 minutes into the search, I located her underneath one of the docks, and I knew she had probably been under a little bit of stress so I was a little apprehensive a getting too close, too fast, and come to find out she was awfully friendly,’ he added.
He too noted how happy everyone was that the dog was safely recovered. ‘I think we had some people upstairs giving us a round of applause and offered us an Oreo milkshake, my partner is still ready for that,’ he joked. ‘I’m sure she’s ready to spend a little time on the land before she does any boating.’
