While out on a weekly lifeboat exercise Rosslare RNLI volunteer lifeboat crew were called out by the Coast Guard to two separate incidents.
The first incident, which occurred close to the Burrow point at Rosslare Strand, involved a small dog that had run across mud flats heading for the open sea. Rosslare Harbour lifeboat deployed its daughter boat and two volunteer lifeboat crew quickly located the dog and a local man who had gone to help. Both man and dog were found to be safe and made their way back to land. The two RNLI volunteers returned to the lifeboat and immediately were tasked to assist a yacht which had suffered mechanical failure.
Due to very calm conditions, the yacht was unable to continue its journey and requested assistance. Rosslare Harbour lifeboat reached the yacht, located a few miles southeast of Carnesore Point, off the Wexford coast. A tow established and the eight-metre yacht was brought towards Kilmore Quay where the RNLI all-weather lifeboat stationed at Kilmore Quay took over the tow and brought the yacht to safety.
Sea conditions were calm and with visibility fair.
Speaking after the incident Rosslare RNLI Volunteer Lifeboat Press Officer Jamie Ryan stressed the dangers of going to the aid of animals. He said, ‘People can put themselves in great danger. It is always advisable to contact the emergency services first when a pet or animal gets into difficulty. We all love our animals and we want to help them safely but we don’t want to see owners put their own lives at risk doing it. The RNLI volunteers had a long day at sea but thankfully both incidents were resolved satisfactorily.’