Daily Mail: The crew from a Coast Guard ice cutter have saved a dog that was frozen in Lake St. Clair in Michigan.
The ship was headed to search for any other vessels that could have been trapped in the frozen ice when they spotted a group of foxes surrounding something in the distance.
As they made their way closer to the site, they realized that a dog had become trapped in the layers of ice and was near death.
‘It was cold, weak and tired. It may have been out there for a couple of days or so,’ Chief Petty Officer Alan Haraf told The Detroit Free Press.
‘They noticed three burrows the dog tried to dig for itself for protection. They said the paws were bleeding and the nails were pretty much down to nothing.’
Three petty officers on board the ice cutter, called the Bristol Bay, packed on their cold weather gear and rescued the dog.
The dog, which the crew members nicknamed ‘Lucky’, was wearing a collar and harness but did not have a tag.
Once the dog was brought back on board using a stretcher, he was warmed up by the officers and fed some chicken breast.
The ice breaker headed back to Detroit from there and one of the officers took it to a local veterinarian. The vet was able to determine that the dog was a mixed breed and about 11 years old. It still remains unclear how the dog got out onto the ice and how he became stuck.
‘Hopefully he’ll find a home. He’s such a darn good dog,’ Petty Officer Brian Essler told The Detroit Free Press.
DCG