What could have been a tragic event had a happy ending last week, after firefighters rescued a dog that had fallen through the ice at the Rockwood Conservation Area.
Shortly after 2pm last Friday a six-year-old mixed-breed poodle, apparently on the ice in pursuit of some geese, fell into the frigid water about 45 metres off the shore.
Deputy fire chief Richard Renaud said Guelph-Eramosa firefighters responded to the call, along with police and paramedics, at around 2:20pm.
The local department called for support from the Guelph fire department’s water rescue team and, while waiting, tried unsuccessfully to rescue the dog, which belonged to a Guelph family visiting the Rockwood park.
Local resident Kathy Stinson, who was walking through the conservation area with her sister and their own two dogs at the time, first saw fire trucks and then heard the loud crying of the dog, which had to tread water for some time before being rescued.
“The dog was in the water for quite a while. It was amazing that he was able to keep up,” said Stinson.
Renaud explained firefighters at first tried to rescue the dog with a ladder and hose placed along the ice, but when that failed a Guelph firefighter wearing a water rescue suit and attached to a line started out across the ice.
“Quite a few people had gathered by then,” said Stinson.
She added the firefighter eventually fell through the ice and then grabbed onto the dog. Other emergency officials pulled the firefighter and dog to shore, where firefighters tried their best to warm the canine.
“There were tears and there was applause,” Stinson said. “People were just really moved by the firefighters’ determination to get the dog.”
But the dog’s ordeal was far from over, having been in the water for what Renaud estimates was about 45 minutes.
Luckily, local veterinarian Clare Maine happened to be in the park at the time and brought the dog to the nearby Rockwood Veterinary Clinic.
Maine said the dog had “a very, very low body temperature” and was dehydrated and exhausted. She kept the dog overnight on Friday to administer an IV and sugars and keep him warm.
“We discharged him to his owners on Saturday,” said Maine. “He is fine. He is doing very well.”
She told the Advertiser the dog was in great shape and was groomed properly, which likely helped save its life.
Stinson said one of the dog’s owners, who was visibly shaken up, did acknowledge the dog was a strong swimmer.
“She really could hardly speak,” Stinson said of the woman. “It was almost as if [the owners] were more in shock than the dog.”
Stinson, whose friend had a dog drown last year at the Rockwood Conservation Area, said she was elated with the result last week.
So too was the dog’s family, it seems.
On Twitter the day of the incident a man who identifies himself as a “dad of two young soccer players” and uses the account @Bernhard2004 tweeted, “Thin ice keep your dogs on leash. Thanks #Guelph and #Rockwood Fire Dept. for rescue! 2 little girls happy.”
(The Advertiser was unable to speak to the owners by press time).
As Renaud said, “It turned out to be a happy ending, but it could have turned out very differently.”
Fire department officials are reminding local residents to stay away from fast moving water, to stay off any ice and to keep their pets on a leash around any water.
