Missing dog rescued by lifeboat crew a mile offshore

HASTINGS, England, Feb. 4 (UPI) -- A runaway dog seen chasing a seagull into the English Channel in Hastings, England, was rescued by a lifeboat more than a mile off shore.

The Royal National Lifeboat Institution's Hastings station shared pictures on Facebook of 8-year-old German shepherd Storm after the exhausted canine was plucked out of the water by a crew about a mile off shore.

Storm's owners said the dog had been missing since Sunday and they received a call Thursday about a potential sighting of Storm by two young men who said they saw the shepherd chase a seagull into the water.

The RNLI crew was dispatched after the Dover coast guard reported a dog sighting.

"He was taken swiftly back to station where he was reunited with his owner before going to the vets for a check up," the Facebook post said.

The DogLost rescue group, which had been searching for Storm, thanked the lifeboat crew for rescuing the dog, who was taken to the Senlac veterinary clinic.