Firefighters are at it again, coming to the rescue of a stranded pupper. I’ve mentioned this a few times before, but Firefighters do much more than just battle fires – not to make that part of the job smaller because it’s extremely important – but they are also first responders.
As you can count on them to charge into battle to fight fires, you can depend on them as well if you’re stranded in a waterway and can’t get yourself out.
That is the very situation that played out on June 1, for the unfortunate pup named Bear, an 11-year-old dog from Glasgow, Va., who was out playing in the recreation area with his owner, Barbara Debevoise. That’s when Bear chose to take a plunge in the nearby Maury River.
“We saw him swimming way out in the river. And we lost him, and we went across the river and he was still swimming, and that’s when I called 911,” Barbara said.
That very emergency call went to Glasgow Volunteer Fire Department, where Chief John Hill answered with his extraordinary activities group, which is trained for violent water tasks such as this one. With the sun setting and the water turning out to be progressively dark and treacherous, the group sprung into action bringing the stranded puppy home.
“With the recent rains, water levels were still flowing a bit high so the spot Bear had found himself in was a bit difficult,” the department’s Facebook post reads. “The swimmers were able to successfully swim to Bear and secure him in a canine personal flotation device and get him moved to a better location. Our Oceanid paddle craft was used to bring Bear safely ashore.”
Volunteer Firefighters Make Treacherous Swim in Swift-Moving Water To Save Stranded Dog https://t.co/GwcRwBMM58
— Pawchi Pet Portal (@PawchiPetPortal) June 12, 2022
Firefighters have also hand-delivered toys to children who are stuck in the hospital for Christmas. They can be found taking part in local or national charities and performing life-saving acts such as CPR to individuals in dire need before paramedics arrive on the scene, and much much more.
All in all, the rescue took the team about an hour to finish and Bear was taken securely back to dry land, wet, yet no worse for the wear.
“I’m sure some of you wonder why such a high risk for a canine, but here every life matters and to a lot of us, pets are like our children,” the department’s post reads. “Over the past few years we’ve been called to help other animals that have found themselves in tight and treacherous situations involving water and other unforgiving environments.”
Water safety for canines is a significant idea for any individual who has their furry companions near any waterway, and despite popular belief, very few if any dogs are natural-born swimmers. It’s true that most dogs are able to learn how to swim, but some dogs simply just find it harder to swim than others due to their physique. As for the doggie paddle, it’s the pups’ instinct to try to swim if they wind up in the water, but that is the extent of their ‘natural swimming abilities.’
This story syndicated with permission from My Faith News
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