In April 2009, rangers on the remote island of St.Bees, off Australia's Great Barrier Reef, found a 'wild dog', in poor condition but neither sick nor malnourished, which they took by boat to the mainland.
They were met by Jan Griffith who was, to put it mildly, happy to see them. It turned out that during a sailing trip four months previously, Jan's pet Australian cattle dog, Sophie Tucker, had been washed overboard, and despite desperate efforts to save her, had been presumed drowned.
In fact, Sophie Tucker had swum five nautical miles through heavy seas to St.Bees, where, with echoes of Alexander Selkirk, she had survived by feeding on the young of the island's population of feral goats.
Apparently, when she heard her owner's voice she began to whimper, and when she saw her she went 'mad' with excitement - like any dog, I suppose, who has been left behind for a day, but x130..
