AirTag helps rescue dog swept away in California floodwaters

A dog was caught up in San Bernardino flooding and was swept away into a flood control basin — until rescuers tracked the AirTag in his collar.

AirTags have famously helped track stolen items, or lost luggage, and the arrest of stalkers. Now it's saved the life of Seamus, an 18-month-old Australian Shepherd dog in California.

According to local station ABC 7, the incident happened in San Bernardino County on January 16, 2023.

"He got away from me, and he just went down into this drainage," said Seamus's owner, Emilie Brill. "The water was going so fast. I think all it took was one paw in that water, and he was gone."

The dog was swept downstream and was spotted by witnesses for around a mile, until he disappeared. Using the AirTag in Seamus's collar, firefighters found him in an access tube.

"Seamus was equipped with both Apple AirTag and a conventional ID Tag," the local fire department posted online, "which aided rescuers and owners in tracking the pup and reuniting them."

In November 2022, an AirTag similarly helped track down a runaway dog in Florida. Apple doesn't recommend attaching an AirTag to a pet or person, but hundreds of accessories exist for doing just that.

10 Comments

comcastsucks 5 Years · 74 comments

About 1 year ago

Yay!!! If I get another dog, I'm absolutely sticking an AirTag on him//her, regardless of what Apple suggests.

danox 11 Years · 3442 comments

comcastsucks said:

Yay!!! If I get another dog, I'm absolutely sticking an AirTag on him//her, regardless of what Apple suggests.

This is America Apple has suggested not doing that for legal reasons too many lawyers in the land. Note Apple will still get sued no matter what, but they still had to say it.

danox said:

comcastsucks said:

Yay!!! If I get another dog, I'm absolutely sticking an AirTag on him//her, regardless of what Apple suggests.

This is America Apple has suggested not doing that for legal reasons too many lawyers in the land. Note Apple will still get sued no matter what, but they still had to say it.

That's a good point!

red oak 13 Years · 1104 comments

I have an AirTag on my dog. It works great. Just one more level of safety

FWIW, I also have AirTags on my mountain bikes, in my cars, in my wallet, on my key chain. Amazing product

igorsky 9 Years · 775 comments

red oak said:

I have an AirTag on my dog. It works great. Just one more level of safety

FWIW, I also have AirTags on my mountain bikes, in my cars, in my wallet, on my key chain. Amazing product

Does it start beeping when you're away from the house at work? That's what I'm concerned about....don't want the mutt to start freaking out.