Re: Damned right!
I have seen similar efforts to rescue pets and other animals during floods and other disasters, and I don't think anyone ever complains about the time and money. If it were my dog, I know I'd want it saved.
I unfortunately can't locate who said it, or where it was said, but someone once wrote that the Soviets shooting a dog into space and then letting it deliberately suffocate up there when the air ran out should have told us everything we needed to know about the Soviet mindset way back then.
Other dogs were launched. Some were recovered, some weren't. At least the others died by accident.