A dog survived an icy ordeal in the small city of Wyandotte, Michigan, at the end of what has been a cold winter.
As the weather warms up and frozen rivers thaw, they grow increasingly more dangerous. An adopted labradoodle, Lucy, found this out the hard way when on February 28 she somehow escaped her owners’ custody and ended up stranded on an ice floe in the Detroit River.
The water was freezing cold, and she sat helplessly, but calmly, for hours while dozens of feet from shore.
Thankfully, local neighbors spotted her and called in professionals who would save the day, before it was too late for Lucy.
That call, placed at 4:15 pm, was received by Detroit Police, who were the first to respond. The dog had floated out some 40 to 50 feet from shore, and the officers considered calling the Coast Guard or venturing into the river themselves. But when the fire department arrived, they were able to nudge the ice closer to the bank to facilitate a rescue.
According to Wyandotte Deputy Police Chief Archie Hamilton, the neighbors who reported Lucy truly saved her life. “If not for that [911 call], that dog would have froze to death or drowned,” he said.
The officers had previously been trained for such rescues, as animals getting lost or ending up in precarious situations, such as being stranded on an icy river, is commonplace.
Wyandotte Assistant Fire Chief Tom Lyon said that pet rescues from such ice hazards happen approximately twice a year.
Donning dive gear, Azzopardi stepped down the slippery ladder, waded into the frigid water, reached out with a catchpole dog snare, and looped it around her neck. He then nudged her off the ice into the water and pulled her across the gap into his arms.
He hoisted her up the ladder to his team, who wrapped her in a warm blanket, and also made sure their go-to man got back up safely.
The water recovery was a success, and Lucy survived, despite experiencing some symptoms of hypothermia. It will take some time for her to recover, but the lucky dog will, perhaps, be a wiser creature from this brisk brush with death. Lucy is now safe and sound at home.
“It had such a happy outcome,” said Fire Chief Lyon. “She just had those big brown eyes, and she couldn’t talk, but she probably was just so grateful.”
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