Geelong dog Sully’s miracle survival after going missing in Corio Bay

A Geelong family thought their beloved dog had drowned after he went missing in Corio Bay – but he was miraculously found safe and well by a refinery worker.

Sully is reunited with his owners Michael Mugge and Miriam Edwards. Picture: Alison Wynd

Michael Mugge’s beloved dog Sully was presumed to have drowned after he went missing in Corio Bay on Friday afternoon.

But less than 12 hours later, the border collie labrador was miraculously found safe and well by a worker at the nearby refinery.

Mr Mugge, from Moolap, said he and his ex-partner, Miriam Edwards, took their two dogs for their usual walk around North Shore.

“Sully is getting more confident in the water so he raced in front of us,” he said.

“We kept an eye on them.

“I went back to my car to get some water for the dogs to drink and my ex-partner was watching them on the beach.

“Then she turned around and she had her hands up in the air.

“I thought ‘oh gosh, what’s happened?’

“Our other dog was sitting back on the shore and looking back out (towards the water).

“We just lost sight of Sully.”

Sully after he was miraculously found safe and well on Saturday. Picture: Facebook

Mr Mugge said they searched for their eight-year-old dog for about two hours.

“We couldn’t work out where he had gone,” he said.

“I always have my binoculars with me and I was looking up and down, it was just a mystery.

“Reluctantly, we thought maybe he had drowned.

“We drove back home and had a bit of cry.”

Mr Mugge took to social media in the hope of retrieving Sully’s body to give him a proper burial.

But his post “went crazy” and he received hundreds of comments hoping Sully would be found.

Sully the dog reunited with his owner Michael Mugge, right, and Danny Parkyn who rescued him after he went missing. Picture: Alison Wynd

When Mr Mugge woke up on Saturday morning, he had several missed calls from refinery worker Danny Parkyn who had miraculously found Sully only 100m away from where he went missing.

“A chap at the refinery had read my post and he was down checking the inlet pipes about 5am and there was our Sully,” Mr Mugge said.

“We think we kept swimming towards the refinery and must have got sucked into a little inlet

“He was a fantastic bloke and he drove Sully back to my ex-partner’s place.

“We were all in tears.”

Mr Mugge said it had been “crazy 24 hours” and was grateful Sully had come home safe.

“We were in absolute shock and couldn’t believe it,” he said.

Mr Mugge said Sully has had a “checkered life”.

“He was hit by a car and the driver left him for dead,” he said.

Originally published as Geelong dog Sully’s miracle survival after going missing in Corio Bay