[nagdu] UK: Guide Dog saved from icy death

Tue Dec 7 16:58:36 UTC 2010

Did she let the dog run off leash or did the dog escape and she for
whatever reason didn't realize it? And, maybe she didn't realize that
the ice was thin? A lot of people don't which is how ice skating deaths
happen, people don't realize that their body puts a lot of pressure on a
small area. 
I barely read the article so if all this was explained I missed it.
We've all done something dumb at least once. Most of us just don't make
headlines.

-----Original Message-----
From: nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org] On
Behalf Of Julie J
Sent: Tuesday, December 07, 2010 10:03 AM
To: NAGDU Mailing List,the National Association of Guide Dog Users
Subject: Re: [nagdu] UK: Guide Dog saved from icy death

Brenda,

That was the same exact reaction I had to the article.  Well that and
why in 
the world would you let your dog run off leash near thin ice?

I guess it's the nature of newspaper articles.  They seem to always
leave me 
with more questions.  Even articles in my local paper that I know more 
background info about seem to create more questions and confusion for
me.

Julie
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Brenda" <bjnite at windstream.net>
To: "NAGDU Mailing List,the National Association of Guide Dog Users" 
<nagdu at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Tuesday, December 07, 2010 8:41 AM
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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