After three months with only his dog Bella for company, rescued Australian sailor Timothy Shaddock has had to say goodbye to her. 

The 54-year-old was rescued after being lost at sea when his catamaran was badly damaged in a storm sailing from Mexico to French Polynesia.

Mr Shaddock met Bella, a black and brown stray dog, while he was living in San Miguel de Allende, his home when he arrived in Mexico at the start of the pandemic.

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Bella became his constant companion for the next three years, despite occasional efforts to find her a suitable home on land.

Mr Shaddock and Bella were a few weeks into their journey when the storm hit. He lost his sail, some electronics and his cooking facilities.

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He found comfort in meditation, swimming in the ocean and writing in a journal, he said after his rescue.

Keeping Bella fed and content gave him added purpose. The two survived on raw fish and rainwater.

Andrés Zamorano, the helicopter pilot who was the first to spot the pair, said he believed the moral obligation Mr Shaddock felt to keep Bella alive helped them both survive.

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“That dog is something else,” Mr Shaddock said after touching dry land for the first time on Tuesday.

Asked how Bella was doing after the rescue, he said she was “amazing”.

Despite the bond between a man and his dog, Mr Shaddock has had to give Bella up before he returns to Australia.

He gave her to one of the crew of the María Delia, the tuna boat that rescued them.

“The Australian embassy really made that decision for me,” Shaddock said later.

Australia has very strict animal quarantine laws and Mexico is not an approved country for pet importation.

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