Apple AirTag saves dog swept away in California floods
The AirTag saves the day.
A dog swept away by floodwaters in San Bernardino County, California was rescued by firefighters with the help of an Apple AirTag.
Seamus, a 1-year-old Australian Shepherd, was equipped with the AirTag and a more conventional ID tag when he fell into the rapid floodwaters that swept him away.
"He got away from me, and he just went down into this drainage," Seamus' owner Emilie Brill told ABC7 New York. "The water was going so fast. I think all it took was one paw in that water, and he was gone."
The local fire department located Seamus a mile away from where he fell thanks to a local employee that heard the dog barking in the nearby channel — Seamus was found wet and petrified in a drain access tube. “After assessing the dog he seemed uninjured & in good spirits” the San Bernardino County Fire department confirmed in a Facebook post.
Apple’s Find My network and the AirTag on his collar helped track his owners in order to reunite them. "I was just blown away by that level of response from our emergency services," Brill said.
Apple launched the AirTag in late 2021 and the device has since found its place for consumers within Apple’s ecosystem. Since its release, the AirTag has appeared in the news for a number of reasons. Stories like finding Seamus showcase the device in a positive light, yet, there have been reports of more sinister examples like stalking.
Apple’s Find My network has a wide range of use cases and a variety of accessories that allow users to keep track of their locations. The best Find My accessories range from trackable bicycles to headphones, although saving your dog from a disaster makes the AirTag an indispensable accessory for dog owners.
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If you’ve just purchased an AirTag and looking to find out the best ways to attach them to your dog or your backpack, check out our list of the best AirTag accessories in 2023.

John-Anthony Disotto is the Editor of iMore, helping you get the most from your Apple products and fixing things when your technology isn't behaving itself.
Based in Scotland, where he worked as a Genius Bar technician repairing iPhones, John-Anthony has used the Apple ecosystem for over a decade and prides himself on closing his Apple Watch activity rings.
He leads iMore's work on AI in the newsroom, testing where it genuinely improves editorial work and where it doesn't. Every story is written, edited, and signed off by a person.
Previously in editorial at TechRadar and Tom's Guide, John-Anthony is an avid film geek who won the Edinburgh International Film Festival Student Critics award in 2019. Away from Apple, he tinkers with game emulation and Linux on his Steam Deck.