Friday, July 18, 2025

Got 1 min? Meet Covid, the canine surfer of Veracruz

She was abandoned on a beach in Veracruz during the pandemic, but Covid is now living her best life.

And simply by doing what she loves, she has attracted significant attention on social media and from local and national media outlets.

Covid goes out to surf in the sea off a Veracruz beach

Covid – much nicer than the disease of the same name – is a mixed breed female dog, but best known now as an avid surfer. The golden-coated canine made quite a splash this week, surfing her way into various newspaper and television reports.

The Milenio newspaper reported that Covid, just a few months old at the time, was abandoned (or forgotten) by a group of tourists who visited the Villa del Mar beach during the pandemic to have a few drinks.

“They left her, abandoned and tied up, but there are people with a good heart like [beach palapa owner] Reyna, who adopted her,” Luis Silvestre Osorio, who works at the palapa, told news website e-consulta.

“She was a little thing, a baby, and … [she was left tied up for] three or four hours in the sun until [Reyna] told us to take her to the palapa,” he said.

Soon after, she was given her memorable name. Now a healthy three-year-old, Covid hits the waves every day with Luis, her surfing coach.

She has an “adventurous spirit,” Silvestre told local broadcaster RTV, adding that she gets stressed if she doesn’t go into the sea for a swim, or a surf, every day.

Covid’s owner is Reyna, but the true “queen” (reina in Spanish) of Villa del Mar beach is Covid, reported RTV.

With reports from Milenioe-consulta and +Noticias

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