Tragic loss of Harbor Island dog shows beach trash can kill. But there’s a happy ending
A Harbor Island woman who lost her best friend, a beloved black lab, at the start of 2026 to a fishhook is turning the tragedy into a resolution to raise public awareness about the problem of beach litter.
Lisa Morris and her friend Tricia Gustin were walking their dogs on the beach when Emily, Morris’ dog, made a dash for a dead fish. Gustin saw the fish line and large weights coming from its mouth and suspected the worst.
“I realized there is probably a hook in that and said, ‘Leave it! Leave it!” Gustin recalled shouting.
Emily, whose sweet disposition earned her the unofficial title of Harbor Island ambassador, unknowingly ingested a hook the size of a fist, probably meant for a shark or some other sport fish. She died on an Okatie veterinary clinic operating table. The athletic black lab who could catch balls thrown high in the air like a centerfielder couldn’t survive a punctured lung from a fishhook.
It was Jan. 1. Emily would have been 2 1/2 on Jan. 12.
The unusual death devastated Morris and sent shock waves across the close-knit island community east of Beaufort known for its stunning beaches, loggerhead sea turtles, variety of birds and colorful homes.
With help from good friends, Morris is turning her unimaginable loss into a public service message that pertains far beyond the shores of Harbor Island: Pick up garbage, yours or not, including fishing line and hooks that can entangle wildlife and pets or even kill them.
“It is a major problem,” Morris says. “We go on the beach every day, and we’re always picking up hooks and trash and debris.”
Gustin has contacted the Harbor Island HOA about the possibility of affixing plastic buckets to the garbage bins at the beach entrances. The portable receptacles would provide a convenient way to carry garbage off the beach during visits, she says.
“We want to avoid another tragedy — human or dog,” Gustin says.
Morris is a certified public accountant originally from Savannah. She built a house on Harbor Island three years ago. She loves it and takes walks daily on the beach.
She hopes her New Year’s Day tragedy can prevent others.
“I want to make people aware they need to pick up their stuff,” she said. “This could have been a child, a bird or a turtle.”
Emily had been with Morris since she was eight weeks old. She was the runt of the litter and the last one. Chasing balls was her passion. She could spend two hours at a time chasing balls and sometimes wore out Morris’ arm.
As the fireworks rang out over the island on New Year’s Eve, Morris recalls telling Emily, “I don’t know what I would do without you.”
The next day, she was gone. Morris tears up just thinking about it.
But, says Morris, there’s a happy ending to the misery that greeted her on New Year’s Day.
Everybody heard about Emily’s death, including Morris’ Harbor Island neighbor Lisa Honeycutt. Honeycutt, by chance, had been following the progress of a litter of black lab puppies born in November to a dog owned by the son of a high school girlfriend in Manning, S.C., 125 miles north of Harbor Island.
“I just called Lisa and said, ‘Do you want to go see this puppy?” Honeycutt said.
Two days after that final walk on the beach with Emily, Morris was driving to Manning with Honeycutt. There was one puppy left in the litter. Just like Emily, he was the runt, and the last one left.
Morris and her friends don’t think it was an accident that she found a new dog so soon after losing Emily.
“I’d call these ‘God winks’ because there is no way I would have been following these puppies for this long,” Honeycutt says.
On Wednesday morning, Morris, Honeycutt and Gustin strolled on the beach on Harbor Island. The Harbor River bridge was visible in the distance as it arched over the river. A six-week-old lab tried to keep up. Parts of his nose and mouth were painted with sand like makeup.
“Come on Forrest,” said Morris.
He’s named after Forrest Gump, the character portrayed by Tom Hanks in the movie filmed in the Beaufort area. Nobody can replace Emily, Morris says. But she’s already developing a new bond with Forrest.
“Out of a tragic situation, we got Forrest,” Morris says as the dog tried to walk between her legs as she strolled on the beach. “But the big thing is if we can prevent someone else from going through this.”
