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Firefighters rescue impetuous pup from icy death in the Mystic River

Firefighters warm up frozen dog in Arlington

Firefighters warm up rescued hound. Photo by MSP.

State Police report Lucy the dog broke away from her owners around 4:30 p.m. on the Arlington side of the Mystic River to chase some swans on the ice - and promptly plunged through the ice into the frigid waters.

Members of the Arlington Fire Department arrived on scene. Firefighters Chris Gibbons and Joseph Andrade donned “warm suits” and headed out onto the ice. Firefighter Gibbons made contact with the dog about 30 feet from shore and struggled to retrieve her, ultimately breaking through the ice as well. With assistance from Firefighter Andrade, the two were able to bring the dog to safety. After a checkup by Arlington EMS, the black Labrador pup was happily reunited with her owner.

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Comments

That part of the Parkway is not an off leash park. Letting your dog run freely near any body of water that is iced over is just sheer stupidity.

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From the wording here, I'd say the dog was ON leash, but then somehow yanked the leash out of the owner's hands.

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I doubt it.

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Were you there? Thankfully the pooch is ok.

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My original statement stands. How does one who has proper control of their dog let it get onto the ice? I have a 130lb Mastiff who was a former bait dog and has an extremely high prey drive and she would go after ducks if she was not properly restrained.

I take my dog over where this incident occurred and there are many people who let their dogs run free, despite there being a leash ordinance there.

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No, I wasn't there, but I doubt that the dog was on leash.

I'm sorry I was unclear with my earlier post.

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No, I wasn't there but the presumption of stupidity on the owner's part was based on experience from years of watching people let their dogs run free in that spot, despite it being dangerous and illegal.

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i like how EVERY story in here turns into a pointless argument based on "facts"
>>>point of the story -- brave firefighters save cute puppy!! now SMILE and go to bed !

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...in a rather embarrassing way.

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Guess that wake and bake didn't help...then again, it was an intellectually honest mistake.

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She is a friends dog. She was not off leash, because she's a nutjob. My friend slipped and fell and the dog got loose.

Thank you Matthew for calling out the bullshit conjecture.

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Or slipped his collar. Not making excuses for the owners who should have checked that the collar was tight enough or invested in a martingale, just raising another possibility that not all dog owners let their dogs run off leash in areas where they should be on leash.

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Grouch!

How about..."Yay! A cute little dog's life was saved!"

Some people really do exist to shit on a parade.

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As someone who prefers the company of canines to 90% of humans out there, I get a little incensed when first responders have to be brought in because someone couldn't care enough to control their dog in dangerous situations.

That being said, of course I'm happy the little muffin is home with his possibly moronic owners.

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... like smoking in bed, or storing empty paint cans next to the furnace. First responders don't care whether you got yourself in trouble by being an idiot or not, they just save lives and property regardless.

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Then you can store it ON the furnace without causing a problem

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... ."it'll cave in from the difference between the ambient air pressure and the vacuum inside ...." says my high school physics teacher...

... but "empty" paint cans, just like "empty" gasoline tanks, aren't really empty.

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...you knew that it was about "not caring", instead of a simple accident, which appears to have been the case.

Look, maybe we all (me included) should just make a resolution to do a little less shooting from the hip. OK?

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Jumping to unfounded conclusions is fun

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By whatever means necessary, as Malcolm said.
I like dogs too. I don't want to see them drown.

I';ve been reading these stories for years on UH and years more elsewhere.
I've NEVER seen a case where it hasn't been claimed that the dog "got away."

Is it me or are these some kind of 'superdogs?"

Guess what, if you're not stronger or smarter than your dog, you shouldn't own him.

God forbid a first responder or someone else gets injured or killed due to your negligence.

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The dog was NOT off leash - the person with her slipped on the wonderful conditions and the dog freaked and bolted.

Take your sanctimonious bullshit and stuff it in your dog collar.

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I'm glad the pet , owner and first responders are ok, really.

But the bottom line is you need to have control of your pets and understand the situations you subject them too. Period.

The owner fell down and the dog bolted onto the ice?

Sounds like a skittish and poorly trained dog that shouldn't be anywhere near river ice. They have dog parks, you know.

As for being sanctimonious, I'd like to hear if your friend will take that dog back near the ice and, if so, what precautions she'll take.

I'd also like to hear exactly what transpired. Owner slips and drops leash and dog bolts into the middle of the frozen river? Doesn't add up, sorry.

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I'm glad the pup is safe.

I assume the firefighter is safe and warmed up as well. Tough but appreciated job.

Thank you.

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Aww, I'm glad the dog was ok! I have to say I'm continually impressed by the level of dedication, professionalism, and compassion local fire departments show, especially in situations like this.

I have a crazy lab mix puppy and would never let her off leash in an unsafe area on purpose and I highly doubt these owners did either.

Accidents happen. My father once was in a similar situation while walking his puppy along the river. He slipped on ice and dropped the leash. His dog bolted towards the water and got stuck on the ice. The fire department responded quickly and professionally. One of the firefighters mentioned this helps them stay trained to respond if a person fell in the water. Not sure if that's relevant here, just what I recall. This was about 17 to 18 years ago.

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