Firefighters in Peterborough, Ont., are being hailed as heroes after saving a dog which fell through the thin ice on the Trent Canal late last week.
Doug Unsworth says he and his dog Chase on Friday were on their usual walk along a path just off Thompson Bay in the canal, near their north-end home.
But Unsworth says a Canada goose suddenly caught his unleashed canine companion’s attention, prompting the black Labrador retriever to dash out onto the canal’s thin ice — and then suddenly into the icy water.
“All of a sudden he chased — true to his name — chased after a Canada goose and he got about 70 feet from shore,” said Unsworth. ” I called him to come back and he just went right through as soon as he stopped.”
Unsworth says a neighbour named Laura saw the commotion and immediately called 911.
“(The) ice wasn’t good. I didn’t dare go after him and I didn’t know what to do,” he said. “I stood there completely useless not being able to do anything. Fortunately right where we are standing was a lady named Laura… who called 911.”
Peterborough Fire Services responded to the emergency call and launched an inflatable rescue raft. However, chief training officer Dave Gillespie notes firefighters had their own challenges in reaching Chase.
Gillespie captured some of his colleagues’ rescue efforts on video.
“As they worked their way out at a certain point, they couldn’t get through the ice, so they had to hop off the boat and crush the ice to finally get to the dog,” he said. “… they were pulled in by the line by the crew up on shore. And that is our standard rescue protocol for those situations.”
The dog was brought to shore safely — chilled, but otherwise unscathed, said Unsworth.
“Those rescue guys are heroes as far as I’m concerned,” he said.
Gillespie says the incident is a reminder to residents and pet owners to be cognizant of ice conditions on all bodies of water, especially given the milder conditions so far this winter in Ontario.
“Ice is slow forming so that means that the two inches of snap freeze is really an inch and a half here; an inch here, half an inch there, and it’s three inches somewhere else,” he said. “So that slow-forming means it has a lot of air in it which it means (the ice) is pretty soft.
“Being inconsistent and being soft means it’s unsafe to go out on any ice.”
Gillespie says Unsworth made the right decision not to venture onto the ice. Unsworth says he’s now sharing the experience with other dog owners.
“I have run into people who say they are leashing their dogs around the water and walking other trails away from the water,” he said. “So yes, the message is getting out.”
— with files from Tricia Mason/Global News Peterborough