Griffy makes headlines!

Friday, 19 December 2008

Dog rescued from frozen lake

Joe Pyrah - Daily Herald

It turns out that, on occasion, man is dog's best friend. A contingent of county and city employees banded together on Wednesday to pull Griffey, a black lab, from the frigid waters of Utah Lake. Around 3 p.m., dispatchers received a call that a dog had fallen through the ice. County Sgt. Tom Hodgson and others responded to the south end of the lake. Hodgson donned a dry suit and began walking across the fragile ice toward the sound of barking. He repeatedly broke through the ice and often, the dog, which he couldn't yet see, would stop barking. As he came out of a reedy portion, an Australian shepherd ran up to him. Licking his fingers, the shepherd turned and ran away barking, directly toward the dog struggling at the edge of an 8-foot hole in the ice. Issuing a few barks to its friend, the shepherd then ran back to Hodgson, "almost as if it was trying to lead me to the other dog." Edging up to the hole, Hodgson saw the black lab just keeping its face and nose above the water. Claw marks around the perimeter showed the dog had been struggling for a long time to get out of the hole. Unable to reach the dog without fully breaking through the ice himself, the sergeant used a "catch pole" from a Santaquin animal control officer to loop the dog's head and drag it out of the water. The slog back across the ice was initially difficult, until more rescuers brought along a Stokes litter, a wire basket of sorts, to use as a sled. The lab and the shepherd were taken to the South County Animal Shelter, where they got warm beds for the night. Hodgson stopped by for a visit and got a licked face for his troubles. The dog's owner, who lives near the lake, collected both dogs on Thursday. Shelter representatives declined to give the owner's name.