Wednesday, February 4, 2015

DOG DAYS OF WINTER: Rescuers Save Pups from Icy Waters in Michigan, Massachusetts

THIS DAY DOG NEWS 

Those are some lucky Labradors.

Coast Guard crews rescued a dog from an icy Michigan lake on Tuesday morning, after the dog jumped into a channel and fell through a sheet of ice. 

Meanwhile, in Massachusetts, fire officials rescued a black Labrador puppy who also fell into frigid waters Tuesday afternoon. 

Luckily for the Michigan lab, she took the plunge near a Coast Guard station. 

Members of the Coast Guard Station at Frankfort, Michigan, were having a meeting Tuesday morning when one of them spotted the dog in the icy waters of Betsie Lake. 

"The dog went straight down and was in the water," Tim Putnam, a boatswain mate third class, told NBC News. "We knew he wasn't getting out himself."
The Coast Guard crew rushed to the lake, with Putnam swimming out about 200 feet into the channel that was covered in loose ice, he said. 

"I had to push a lot of the ice out of the way, it was pretty exhausting," he said. Putnam said he could see the dog was shivering, but the pooch attempted to swim towards him as he got closer. 

"It was almost like he knew it was his last chance. Luckily we got him out in time, it didn't look like he had too much left in him." 

Putnam grabbed the dog and his crew helped pull them safely to shore. Once out of the water, Putnam and his crew took the lab to the Benzie County Animal Shelter in Beulah, Michigan. 

And despite the Coast Guard crew believing the dog to be male, animal control officers told NBC News the Labrador is in fact a female between three and five years old and with a clean bill of health. 

The shelter is currently looking for the dog's owner as she was found with no identification and did not have a microchip. 

Putnam said he hopes the owner comes forward, but if not he and his wife are considering adopting the animal he rescued. 

"Maybe it was just meant to be," he said.
Edwin Carter, an animal control officer at the shelter, said Putnam has first dibs to adopting the dog. If no owner comes forward by Feb. 10, Carter said they would put her up for adoption under the name "Betsie," after the lake she was saved from. 

On Tuesday afternoon, firefighters in Arlington, Massachusetts, also saved a dog from the icy waters of the Mystic River. 

Massachusetts State Police said that a woman and her two daughters were walking along the river with their dog, Lucy, when she spotted swans in the middle of the river, broke away, and ran out onto the ice. 

The ice then gave way, causing Lucy to fall into the river, unable to get herself out, they said. Firefighters who arrived on the scene then donned "warm suits" and headed out to the ice to retrieve the dog — who was brought back safe and sound to dry land after a bit of a struggle. 

 
Massachusetts State Police
Arlington, Mass., firefighters attend to "Lucy" after rescuing her from the Mystic River.

POPULAR POST 

 

DONT PAY PREMIUM FOR "PREMIUM" DOG FOODS 
A - C Dog Names
MOST POPULAR DOG IN AMERICA: No 1

0 comments:

Post a Comment