[nagdu] UK: Guide Dog saved from icy death

Pickrell, Rebecca M (TASC) REBECCA.PICKRELL at tasc.com
Tue Dec 7 14:44:29 UTC 2010


You can still own a car and not drive. I am such a person. The two don't
go together necessarily. If you have your own car, it is easy to obtain
someone who can drive it for you. 

-----Original Message-----
From: nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org] On
Behalf Of Brenda
Sent: Tuesday, December 07, 2010 9:42 AM
To: NAGDU Mailing List,the National Association of Guide Dog Users
Subject: Re: [nagdu] UK: Guide Dog saved from icy death

The dog, which was cold but uninjured, was wrapped in a thermal
blanket and taken in the off-road vehicle back to the owner's
car.

I'm confused, if the owner had a car, why was a guide dog needed?  The
article didn't mention that there was another person with the handler
who would have driven the car only that the handler was a
partial-sighted woman.  If a person has significant vision loss to
benefit from a guide dog, how then can they be capable of still driving?

I'm not judging, or trying to start a nit-picking debate, but am just
really curious as to this question.
Brenda




On 12/7/2010 8:51 AM, Ginger Kutsch wrote:
> Guide Dog saved from icy death
> 10:00am Monday 6th December 2010
>
> A GUIDE dog trapped in an icy lake at Stanton Fitzwarren was
> saved from freezing to death in a daring rescue by firefighters
> on Saturday.
>
> The black labrador fell through thin ice at Stanton Park and was
> stuck perilously for at least 20 minutes with only its head and
> front paws out of the water.
>
> After fire crews arrived, a specially-trained firefighter slid
> along the ice on his stomach, grabbed the helpless animal and was
> pulled back to dry land with it in his arms.
>
> The owner, a partially-sighted Swindon woman, who did not want to
> be named, is said to be delighted with the rescue but
> 'distressed' about the near-tragedy.
>
> Watch manager Kevin Bridgman, who led the rescue, said: "The
> owner was over the moon, she couldn't praise us enough, she
> couldn't believe what we did.
>
> "She was so impressed with what we did but she was very
> distressed about what happened.
>
> "It was a great outcome from our point of view, I think the whole
> crowd was over the moon, right from control down to us, that it
> was a successful outcome.
>
> "The message to dog owners is to keep your dog on a lead at all
> times near icy water."
>
> The incident happened as temperatures rose slightly above
> freezing on Saturday, causing ice on the man-made lake to thaw.
>
> The owner called Stratton St Margaret fire station at 11.35am and
> a pumping appliance with six firefighters was immediately
> dispatched.
>
> When the officers arrived, just 12 minutes later, they saw the
> dog stuck about 10 metres from the lakeside, with its front paws
> on the ice and its body under the water.
>
> Watch manager Bridgman said: "The dog was very calm, it was not
> flapping, just looking towards us as much as to say 'Come and get
> me out'.
>
> "The owner was there, obviously a bit distressed."
>
> The firefighters started preparing for the rescue and an off-road
> vehicle, equipped for water and animal rescue, arrived with five
> more officers.
>
> Firefighter Steve Owen, who is specially trained in water and
> animal rescue, went out to save the animal as a small crowd
> gathered.
>
> Wearing a drysuit and attached to the bank with lines, he slid
> out flat on his stomach, helped the dog back onto the ice and was
> then pulled back in with the animal in his arms.
>
> The dog, which was cold but uninjured, was wrapped in a thermal
> blanket and taken in the off-road vehicle back to the owner's
> car.
> Source:
> http://www.swindonadvertiser.co.uk/news/8720832.Guide_Dog_saved_f
> rom_icy_death/
>
>
>
>
> Ginger Bennett Kutsch
> Morristown, NJ
>
>
> "To think that one small dog could stand for so much in the
> life of a human being, not only in his usual role of companion
> but as his eyes" Dorothy Harrison Eustis, The Saturday Evening
> Post, November 5, 1927
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
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