Lifeguard Dog Reinstated

Banned Lifeguard Dog Reinstated After Protests -- ZooToo Pet News

CORNWALL, U.K. -- Once banned from his post, a famed British lifeguard dog will return to duty at a Cornish beach.

Thousands of people signed a petition asking UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown -- and Queen Elizabeth -- to mandate that Bilbo, a 6-year-old Newfoundland, get his job back.

For the past three years, the chocolate-colored, nearly 200 pound dog has stood watch alongside his lifeguard owner. The two patrolled the beachfront together and would regularly cruise the shore in an All Terrain Bike.

Bilbo, whose waterproof coat and webbed paws were reportedly put to good use on the job, also wore his special lifeguard vest before plunging into the water. He had also passed a special fitness and swimming test before making his ocean front debut.

The dog is credited with aiding in three rescues of struggling swimmers in Sennen Cove.

Yet the Royal National Lifeguard Institution took issue with Bilbo riding a motorized bikein May 2008, citing health and safety concerns. Later that month, it officially banned him from him post, saying that while it cannot bar a dog from the beach, it could renounce Bilbo from keeping an official post.

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