Dog rescued after falling through ice in West Vancouver Ambleside Park’s duck pond

For the second time in as many days, a woman risked her life Saturday to save a dog who fell through thin ice.

The latest rescue unfolded in West Vancouver at Ambleside Park’s duck pond.

The incident was captured on video by Pervez Iqbal, a hobby photographer who had been shooting birds landing on the ice, when he noticed something much larger struggling to stay afloat. “There was a dog stuck in the ice and I said my god, this doesn’t look good,” recalled Iqbal.

WATCH: Exclusive video that Global News obtained shows a dog being rescued after falling through ice in West Vancouver.

1:02 Dog rescued after falling through ice in West Vancouver duck pond

Iqbal ran to grab his smaller camera. By the time he returned, a woman had entered the partially frozen pond and was using her elbows to break through the ice. A man had also waded in behind her as the dog struggled to pull itself out of a hole in the ice.

Iqbal told Global News he was “quite horrified” at the scene as he had just learned another dog fell through the ice the day before at Vancouver’s Trout Lake.

In that incident, a woman who was not the dog’s owner jumped in the lake and chipped away at the ice until she reached the dog and pulled her to safety. “She rescued it and brought it back…I’ve never seen anything like that before,” said Ben West, who witnessed and filmed Friday’s daring rescue.

The Vancouver Park Board is reminding everyone that the ice, although deceiving, is little more than a layer of slush. “It definitely is not safe. We ask all dog owners to be very mindful and keep their dogs away from the water,” said Park Board aquatic supervisor Sean Healy.

In Saturday’s close call, the woman was able to drag the dog, a golden retriever, out of the chilly waters before firefighters arrived. She too was not the owner of the dog. Although her actions likely saved the animal, West Vancouver Fire Rescue does not recommend people dive in and risk hypothermia.