THERE was a spot of doggy drama in Looe on Monday morning when Roxy the Bulldog found herself in deep trouble - quite literally - after taking an unexpected tumble into the Looe River!

Struggling to stay afloat, the soggy pup’s plight quickly caught the attention of onlookers, who wasted no time in calling for help.

Enter the Looe RNLI crew, who sprang into action to rescue the waterlogged bulldog, who had fallen into the river at Pennyland.

Taking up the story, the RNLI reports: “At around mid-morning on Monday, members or our volunteer crew on East Looe quay were made aware of a radio message between harbour staff saying that a dog had fallen into the river at Pennyland.

Roxy the Bulldog is rescued by crew members from Looe RNLI after falling into the Looe River
Roxy the Bulldog is rescued by crew members from Looe RNLI after falling into the Looe River (Looe RNLI / Ian Foster)

“Before making their way to the lifeboat station, they contacted our station’s duty launch authority Dave, who paged additional crew to go and assist. Whilst on the phone to Falmouth Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre (MRCC) to inform them the D Class inshore lifeboat was launching; Dave received their tasking request, as the MRCC were taking multiple 999 calls reporting the same incident.

“Within six minutes, head launcher Brian and tractor driver Eric were launching the charity’s D Class inshore lifeboat Ollie Naismith II. However, as the incident was on the Pennyland walkway, immediately opposite the station, our crew Tom, Victoria and Will were on scene within the minute, where they found a bulldog called ‘Roxy’ in the water being assisted by her owner Liam, who had waded in to rescue his pet.

“Passers-by, who also raised the alarm, assisted Liam by passing down one of the life rings. Confirming both Liam and Roxy were uninjured, the Looe RNLI crew helped them on board the inshore lifeboat and crossed the river back to the lifeboat station, where the D Class was recovered by shore crew Adam, Dan, Amber and Mark.

Rescued Roxy the Bulldog is all safe and sound and back on dry land following a dramatic Monday morning walk
Rescued Roxy the Bulldog is all safe and sound and back on dry land following a dramatic Monday morning walk (Looe RNLI / Ian Foster)

“Roxy’s owner, Liam, was joined soon after by his partner at the lifeboat station. As the couple left with Roxy, they thanked our crew for their assistance and asked us to pass on their heartfelt thanks to the members of the public who raised the alarm and came to their assistance on Pennyland.”

Owner Liam went on to explain that they always have Roxy on a lead as she is partially sighted, but somehow they lost their footing and that was when Roxy fell into the river. Thankfully, Liam was relieved to find Roxy was uninjured as she had a softer landing in water, missing the rocks that were being exposed as the tide fell.

A spokesperson for Looe RNLI said: “Our volunteer crew were also relieved to find both Roxy and Liam unscathed from their adventure which, took less than 20 minutes to complete from the pager sounding.”

Just 24 hours earlier, volunteers crews from Looe RNLI were involved in rescuing a teenager who had become cut off by the tide at Second Beach, East Looe, just two hours before one of the highest spring tides of the year.