A UPS Driver Rescued a Dog from a Frozen Pond Without Hesitation

[douglas9]

UPS driver Ryan Arens was making his rounds near a pond in Bozeman, Montana, when he heard an unearthly sound. “Like a cry for help,” he told the Dodo. It was December 2018, and about 15 feet from the frozen banks was the source of that cry—a half-submerged brown-and-white wirehaired hound, struggling to cling to a thin layer of ice. How she got there no one knows, but an elderly man was already on the scene, determined to save her. He’d entered the pond in a rowboat and was hacking away at the ice with a rock to create a path to the dog. It was slow going, and Arens, 44, thought he stood a better chance.

“Animals are my weakness,” he told the Great Falls Tribune, explaining why he stripped down to his boxers and socks, even though the temperature was in the 30s, and commandeered the rowboat.

His heart thumping, Arens slid closer to the dog and used the other man’s rock to smash away at the ice. He gave one strong heave too many and slipped off the boat, crashing into 16 feet of frigid water.

He resurfaced in time to see the dog going under. Using nervous energy to keep warm, he swam about five feet toward her, grabbed hold of her collar, and pulled her to the ice. He then boosted the dog into the boat and slid it back to the shore, where anxious bystanders carried the dog to the home of the rowboat owner, a retired veterinarian. Once in the house himself, Arens jumped into a warm shower with the dog until they both defrosted. A few more minutes in the pond, the vet told Arens, and she would have likely suffered cardiac arrest.

https://www.rd.com/true-stories/inspiring/four-legged-ice-rescue/

[HuskyOffset]

1. "What can Brown do for you?" indeed!

Good on the retired vet & Ryan for rescuing this dog.

[johnthewoodworker]

2. Our old mastiff, Tonka, atypically wondered out our Wisconsin yard one night in December

many years ago, and fell through ice on a pond. Our neighbors and local FD rescued him took him to the emergency vet and a mere $2000 later he was home, safe and dry. I loved that dog.

[Rorey]

3. A "mere" $2000.....

I spent a lot of money on animals too. I mean, what else can you do?

[PWPippinesq]

5. We have, too.

Once we take them into our lives and our hearts, there's no other option. We and our beloved animals are fortunate because we haven't had to face economic euthanasia, are able to afford the treatments that have been needed.

[sinkingfeeling]

4. 34 years ago, I had 2 three month old Samoyed puppies in Minnesota.

I had a house on acreage with a lake. One November afternoon the pups were out playing in the yard, but when I went to get them in a few minutes later, I heard them barking down by the lake. I clambered down the steep bank and saw both had fallen through the ice. I went after them, not knowing how to swim. Of course, I went into the lake as well. I managed to grab one of the dogs and get to shore. Your whole body shivers from the shock of the icy water. I turned back for the other puppy, but he was gone. I assumed I pulled him under the ice when I broke through. I struggled to get myself and Lacey up the bank and to the house. She became my constant companion and protector. I have never gotten over my guilt of not getting Keppie as well.

[Rorey]

6. That is so sad about Keppie. I'm glad you saved Lacey

But you're lucky to be alive!

[PWPippinesq]

7. My husband and our hero.

My husband and I were walking with our two standard poodles one recent October along the banks of the Kennebec River near its outflow to the Atlantic Ocean in Maine. We let the two off leash when they immediately, in unison, took off after a sea gull at the edge of the sand. When the gull flew out over the water, Audrey and Daphne leaped, again in unison, ending up in the swirling incoming tide in very deep water where the river had undercut the beach. My husband dropped the leash he was holding, without thinking of his own safety, ran into the water to rescue them, not realizing how deep the water was. He swam, in his heavy jacket and shoes and jeans, out to them and began pushing them back towards shore. All I could see was three sets of eyes fixed on me and the violently swirling tidal pools behind them. I fully expected to have them be pushed by the tide up river where their bodies would be found. Instead, my husband managed to get both girls to the edge of the beach where they were able to pull themselves out and my husband found purchase on his knees on the edge where the sand dropped off. After stripping and wrapping him in towels from the car, we drove home to warmth and safety. Oh, what we will do for those we love! Thankfully, you were able to save your one pup and yourself.

[erronis]

9. Sometimes I think it's easier to love our trusting pets than many humans!

[PWPippinesq]

10. Indeed.

They live in the moment, don't hold grudges, have simple needs, give love and loyalty without strings attached and are there waiting patiently when we return home. What's not to love?

[bitterross]

8. How great! What a wonderful person.

I know that for me, my pets are family. I love them more than people - most of the time.

Glad this nice man happened along.

[tblue37]

11. Cute pup: