My young daughter is about as devoted a dog lover as they come. Not only does she enjoy dressing up like a pooch, but she also insists on hearing at least one puppy-related story each night before bed. Typically, I make up my own narratives, but every so often I will surf the Internet for inspiration. That’s where I came across this doosie of a dog tale.
What makes this story even more incredible (besides the fact that it is 100% true) is that it involves a cruise ship that my daughter is intimately familiar with. Norwegian Cruise Line’s Pride of Aloha sails around the Hawaiian Islands and floats directly in front of my parent’s home in Hilo each week.
Whenever we are in Hawaii visiting my daughter runs out onto my parent’s front lawn to greet the ship. She waves to the passengers who are lined up on the ship’s observation deck and blows a kiss or two. Then, without fail she turns to me and asks: “Mommy, you think there’s any dogs on that ship.”
My stock answer: “I don’t think pets are allowed on the ship. Their owners probably left them with friends.”
Who knew how far NCL staffers would go to help a dog in need?
Turns out some workers on the Pride of Aloha are being hailed as heroes this week after they helped rescue an eight-month-old cocker spaniel that was shipwrecked on a remote Pacific island.
According to news reports, the pooch, whose name is Snickers had been marooned on Fanning Island since December. That’s when his owner’s 48-foot-long sailboat washed up on shore after spending 95 days drifting across the Pacific. You might have seen on the news that the couple was able to hitch a ride on an inter-island supply ship and made it home to California safely. However, the ship’s crew wouldn’t allow Snickers on board so his owners were forced to leave him behind on the desolate island.
Enter the Pride of Aloha. A Las Vegas resident who heard about the pup’s plight on the Internet contacted the Hawaiian Humane Society, which in turn asked NCL to pick up the dog. Pride of Aloha staffers rescued the shipwrecked pooch earlier this week and brought him back to Honolulu with some 2,000 plus passengers, who just ate Snickers up.
The pooch is reportedly in good health and is on his way to land-locked Las Vegas. According to reports, Snickers owners were too busy making the rounds on talk shows (including The Montel Williams Show) and expressed no interest in being reunited with their puppy. That’s the reason why the Las Vegas resident stepped in to help save Snickers from an assured death on Fanning Island.
So the story has a happy ending after all and now the next time my daughter asks about pets riding on cruise ships I might have to modify my answer.
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