Another dog owner falls in icy Delaware pond trying to save pet
MARSHALLTON, Del. (WPVI) -- A father, his son, and their dog needed to be rescued from an icy Delaware waterway Sunday just days after a similar occurrence.
Officials said a man was walking his dog around 11:30 a.m. near the pond in Carousel Park in Wilmington.
That's when his Rottweiler went out onto the ice to chase geese. Soon the dog fell in to the pond.
"The actual Rottweiler went underwater and that's when the owner jumped into the water to go get him. Then he started struggling and his son went in to rescue him," said Mill Creek Fire Co. Chief Joseph Stewart.
Officials said bystanders were able to get both father and son out of the water using a flotation ring before the rescue crews arrived
"We brought them into our ambulance to get them warm," said Stewart. "Probably just in the nick of time."
The fire chief said both were showing early signs of hypothermia.
The pond was the scene of another rescue just two weeks ago.
Action News was there as crews pulled a man from the icy waters after he went into the pond to save his two dogs. While he was able to help his pups out of the water, he could not get himself out.
Rescue crews pulled him from the pond and he was treated at the hospital for hypothermia.
"The pond is adjacent to the border of the bark park. Dogs go swimming there all of the time, chasing sticks and stuff. Now ice is a whole different thing," said Jeff Rivenbark of Pike Creek.
After Sunday's rescue, officials have a warning for people in Carousel Park.
"Keep your dogs off the ice," said Stewart. "There's a lot of geese around here and that seems to be when everything is happening because the dogs are going after the geese. And when they go in, of course the owners are going to want to go in also."
The Rottweiler from Sunday's rescue was taken to a nearby animal hospital in stable condition.
Fire officials said these rescues generally happen about three times a winter. They are hoping people will heed their warning and stay off of the ice along with their dogs.
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