A dog that went missing for over a month in a British national park has been rescued after walking more than 100 miles, just over 160 kilometres, and taking a solo swim to an island.
Five-year-old Golden Retriever mix, Amber, was rescued by a ferry in the New Forest, south-western England, the Guardian reported.
The curious canine had only been at home with her foster family for one night before making a run for it.
She was born on the streets in Qatar before being rescued by a local shelter, where she spent most of her life before being moved to the UK by KS Angels Rescue, an organization operated by husband and wife Sam Collins and Kelly Parker.
The adventurous pup went missing on April 25 and was alone for 36 days. During that time, she trekked through Hampshire and Dorset and swam to an island before being rescued.
Amber was spotted 63 times during her time in New Forest National Park. Food stations and cameras were set up by staff to track her.
According to The Guardian, she walked southwest across the park towards the sea to Sandbanks in Poole, on England’s south coast. There she paddled a mile across Poole Harbour to Brownsea Island.
Brownsea Island, Poole Harbor, Dorset, England, UK, Passenger ferries waiting for tourists to return to the mainland.
Peter Titmus / Getty Images
A resident of the island left food out for the dog after she was spotted roaming alone. But four days in the isolated enclave were more than enough vacation for Amber, who was swimming back to the mainland when she was spotted by passersby aboard a ferry and initially mistaken for a seal.
Get breaking National news
For news impacting Canada and around the world, sign up for breaking news alerts delivered directly to you when they happen.
Ethan Grant, a crew member who saw Amber wading in the water, told the Guardian, “I then realized it was a dog and thought ‘what’s that doing out there?’ You could see she was struggling, so we thought we need to get her out, otherwise she wouldn’t have made it.”
After her five-week jaunt in the English wilderness, Amber was deemed healthy by a vet on return, though she had lost a substantial amount of weight and is not yet ready to be adopted.
Parker told the Guardian it was hard to track the dog down because she had entered a “wild mindset.”
“We had a lot of well-meaning people, and they really did try to help,” she said. “Unfortunately, with a dog that is scared and has entered that wild mindset, with any people, she would have run.”
Amber was moving at pace, Parker explained, saying every time she was spotted, she had travelled between eight to nine-and-a-half kilometres.
“It’s been frustrating; we’ve felt like we were always behind her. It’s definitely been an experience I would rather not have again – but a happy ending,” she added.
According to Collins, Amber had not had enough time to form bonds with her foster family which left her frantic and made it extremely difficult to track her down.
“She was absolutely all over the place, she kept returning to where she went missing from and was moving in bigger and bigger circles,” he said.
“But then we had no sightings for a week before I got a call that she was on a boat. We know she entered the water at Sandbanks as we were sent a photo of her there. It is about a mile of swimming, which is just incredible,” he added.
“The boat crew spotted her struggling with the tide, she wasn’t going to make the swim back so they turned the boat around. She hooked her paws on to the ladder and one of the lads jumped into the water and helped her out,” he continued.
On Saturday, KS Rescue shared the good news that Amber had been found.
“Massive thank you to the very kind men on the boat for getting her safely on board and looking after her so well! You genuinely saved her life,” the post says.
https://www.facebook.com/photo?fbid=122226759848189455&set=a.122107845530189455
Jess Wadsworth, Amber’s foster mum, said her precious pup was in remarkable shape given the length of her journey.
“She’s already in really good nick compared to how long she had gone for. What a girl,” she told the Guardian.
Parker added that the women who fed Amber on the island had already reached out to express interest in an adoption.
© 2025 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.
