(Mexico City) A castaway Australian rescued by a Mexican boat after drifting for two months in the Pacific Ocean with his dog Bella, decides to leave his faithful companion behind in Mexico.
Timothy Shaddock and Bella survived on raw fish and rainwater before being rescued by a Mexican tuna boat more than 1,200 nautical miles (2,200 kilometers) from either shore.
“Timothy handed the dog over to the captain of the boat that saved his life,” Antonio Guerra, manager of the company that owns the tuna boat that carried out the rescue, told local media on Wednesday.
The 54-year-old Australian explained that his dog, a mixed breed with a dark coat and golden spots, was actually a Mexican and he found her wandering around shortly before he left the coastal town of La Paz in Mexico.
He tried to find her a home three times, but it always ended up following the animal, so he decided to take her on as a traveling companion on his raft.
“She’s an amazing animal, and I’m thankful she’s alive,” he said Tuesday after arriving in the port of Manzanillo following his rescue. “She’s braver than me.”
Mr. Shaddock left in April from La Paz (NW), on Mexico’s Baja California peninsula, on a 6,000-kilometre journey to French Polynesia. But his boatAloha Tuawhich collapsed after a severe storm in the eastern Pacific Ocean left primates and animals alive, and destroyed electronic equipment.
“Total coffee aficionado. Travel buff. Music ninja. Bacon nerd. Beeraholic.”
