Dog stranded on rock in sea rescued by Margate RNLI following online appeal

• WATCH: The moment a lost dog was found stranded out at sea off the Thanet coast in Kent.

A dog has been rescued off the Thanet coast, after being spotted marooned on a rocky outcrop.

His owners thought they would never see Bear again, after he was struck by a car, and fled injured and frightened.

Yet, after tens of thousands of people joined in to help on Facebook, he was seen at sea.

The German and Belgian shepherd cross escaped from his home on Tuesday 30 April at around 10.30pm.

Owner Fiona Rennie, said: "We had over 35,000 people viewing everything we were putting on Facebook and then all of a sudden we got contact with the Coast Guard to say that they had had a sighting of him.

"They had seen him balance on a rock in the middle of the sea.

"There was water all around him.

"They said that they think two people got in the water to try and get him, which is a scary thought, that they were in the water because obviously they would put themselves at risk and their safety could be compromised trying to get him."

A family friend, Connor Edwards, was part of the Margate lifeboat crew sent to save the dog.

He said: "When I first spotted Bear, it was actually quite difficult because his colourings blended in with the coastline.

"Our main priority was to cut him off because if he had got to the main beach he would have got away from us again, and then we called out his name and suddenly he was very shocked that we knew him.

"So I slowly approached him but being missing for so long he was very agitated very scared, he was a bit barky and growly but I managed to get hold of him, calmed him down a bit.

"I brought him alongside the boat and he just hopped straight in, he was perfect rescuing himself.

Now back at home, the Bear's owners are grateful to everyone who helped.

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