A police officer from Mercer County, New Jersey risked his own life to pull a pet dog out of a partially-frozen backyard pond on Dec. 15.
The officer’s heroic act was captured on a police body cam video and has gone viral on social media.
Officers Robert Voorhees and George Peterson responded to a call at a Pennington Harbourton Road property of a dog that had fallen through the ice in a frozen pond and was unable to get out on its own.
“There was absolutely no way she could have gotten out herself,” Carolyn Wooley told the news station.
Hopewell Valley Emergency Services and Pennington Fire Company personnel also arrived at the scene to help rescue the dog.
“They were trying to blow up a raft and one officer said he wasn’t waiting,” Wooley told CBS News.
Voorhees volunteered to be fastened to a rope and tried to reach the dog by going into the pond, police said in a statement on Facebook.
In the video, Voorhees can be seen crawling to the edge of the ice toward the dog without a coat, life jacket, or any protection from the icy waters.
As the officer slowly reached the edge, Nisel swam toward him and he grabbed her by the collar. The emergency responders then pulled the officer and the dog to safety.
“The dog basically thought it was a great time running around afterwards,” Peterson told the news station.
Nisel’s owner then gave officer Voorhees a big hug after the heroic rescue, reported CBS News.
“I’m just so impressed that his first thought was the dog,” Wooley said.
The video has been viewed over 37,000 times and has garnered over 1300 likes as of Dec. 21.
