ohmidog!

After a string of recent deaths, the Coast Guard is warning residents and visitors to Northern California’s coast not to try to rescue their dogs from the ocean.

Five people have drowned since November as they tried to save pets swept into the ocean by rogue waves.

Coast Guard, National Park and SPCA officials held a joint press conference Friday, aimed at spreading public awareness about water safety for pets and their owners.

Allison Lindquist, executive director of the East Bay SPCA, was among those advising pet owners not to go into rough ocean waters to save their dog.

“Dogs are naturally better swimmers because of their horizontal body mass,” Lindquist said. “They are built better for riding out the current.” She said the best thing to do is to follow the dog parallel to the shoreline and call its name.

“Just let the dog do its thing,” Lindquist said. “When the current subsides, the dog will swim back.”

Rogue or “sneaker” waves have claimed five lives in three separate incidents this winter, according to the Santa Rosa Press Democrat.

In each case, their dogs survived.

In November, a powerful surf swept a family dog out to sea at Big Lagoon Beach near Arcata in Humboldt County. The teenage son swam out to save the pet. Then the child’s mother and father noticed him struggling and swam out to save him. All three died. The dog made it back to shore.

On New Year’s Day, Charles Quaid, 59, of Richmond, died after attempting to rescue his wife and dog.

Last Sunday, Susan Kay Archer, 32, of Shelter Cove, was walking on Little Black Sand Beach with her boyfriend when she was swept out to sea with her dog and drowned. The dog made it back to shore.

Gabe Pulliam, a 13-year veteran of the Coast Guard and rescue swimmer, said most citizens they lack the equipment and training to rescue a dog from rough and frigid waters.

“People who walk their dogs on the beach and notice strong surf should stay above the line where the water laps up,” Pulliam said. “It’s fun to watch the waves roll in, but respect the ocean and never turn your back on it.”

Pulliam is featured in a handout about pets and ocean safety released by the Coast Guard.

A Florida man was hit by a bus and killed when he tried to save a dog that wandered onto the highway.

John Christopher Morgan, 22, of Lakeland, was buying  beer at a Plant City convenience store Friday night when he saw a stray dog run onto State Road 60, according to the Tampa Tribune.

According to his friend, Jason Braden, Morgan ran to save the dog and was hit by a bus. The Florida Highway Patrol said the driver of the bus has not been charged.

Morgan moved to Florida from New Jersey about a year ago to take care of his aunt, said Braden. About two weeks ago, both men lost their jobs when the Florida Police and Trooper’s Association went out of business, Braden said.

Braden said Morgan’s remains, will be cremated and sent to New Mexico, where his father lives.

Braden described his friend as “an easy-going guy who would give the shirt off his back to anyone. He was the most caring person I had ever known. If he didn’t have it, he would get it. He would always put others before himself. That is why he is where he is now.”

The search continued yesterday for Gollum, a small Italian Greyhound whose owner died trying to save him and her other two dogs from an icy pond in Texas.

Police say the other two dogs and their owner, Andrea Benua, drowned in the pond Monday.

Gollum is believed not to have dronwned,but he disappeared after the accident. Benua’s family and friends are trying to find him, they say, because it’s what Benua would have wanted. Benua and her husband had no children, only the dogs, WFAA in Dallas-Fort Worth reports.

Benua frequently donated to animal shelters and her friends and family asked that anyone wishing to honor her memory do the same.