Dog Wearing AirTag Rescued From Storm Water Drain by Firefighters: Report

Seamus was equipped with an AirTag and a conventional ID tag, according to the San Bernadino County Fire Department.

Written by David Delima | Updated: 21 January 2023 18:30 IST

Dog Wearing AirTag Rescued From Storm Water Drain by Firefighters: Report

Photo Credit: Screenshot/ San Bernadino County Fire Department

One-year-old Australian Shepherd Seamus was reunited with his family after he was rescued

Highlights

Australian Shepherd Seamus fell into a storm drain
First responders were quickly alerted to Seamus' disappearance
Seamus found nearly a mile away from where he disappeared

Apple's AirTag tracking device is a handy tool for keeping track of your personal belongings, but the tracker is also used by people to locate their pets by attaching it to a collar, even though it was not designed for that purpose. Rescuers in California have now saved a dog after he ran away from his owner and entered a storm water drain before being swept away. The dog was wearing an AirTag and a conventional ID tag, according to first responders.

While on a walk, one-year-old Australian Shepherd Seamus ran away from his owner Emilie Brill and ran toward a drainage area. “He got away from me, and he just went down into this drainage. The water was going so fast I think all it took was one paw in that water and he was gone,” Brill told ABC7. Thankfully, first responders were quickly alerted to Seamus' disappearance and rescue efforts were soon underway.

According to a video posted by the San Bernadino County Fire Department on January 18 detailing the effort to rescue the dog, Seamus entered a flood control basin and was swept away in fast moving waters. Firefighters were informed by an employee at a nearby recreational vehicle (RV) facility that they had seen a dog floating down the nearby channel and heard it barking.

The video reveals that Seamus had managed to escape the fast-flowing water and was in an access tube, when he was rescued by the firefighters, nearly a mile (roughly 1.6kms) away from where he entered the storm water drain.

The lucky dog was then reunited with Brill after the crew dried him and warmed him in the fire engine before they dropped him off at his house.

"Seamus was equipped with both Apple AirTag & a conventional ID Tag which aided rescuers and owners in tracking the pup and reuniting them," the fire department stated. It's worth noting that Apple previously stated in an interview, that if people want to use an AirTag to monitor their pet's location, they should “make sure that their moving pet gets into range of a device in the Find My network”.

Apple launched the iPad Pro (2022) and the iPad (2022) alongside the new Apple TV this week. We discuss the company's latest products, along with our review of the iPhone 14 Pro on Orbital, the Gadgets 360 podcast. Orbital is available on Spotify, Gaana, JioSaavn, Google Podcasts, Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music and wherever you get your podcasts.

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Further reading: AirTag, Rescue

David Delima

Email David Delima

As a writer on technology with Gadgets 360, David Delima is interested in open-source technology, cybersecurity, consumer privacy, and loves to read and write about how the Internet works. David can be contacted via email at DavidD@ndtv.com, on Twitter at @DxDavey, and Mastodon at mstdn.social/@delima. More