GREEN, Ohio–When Chris Browne got a phone call early Thursday afternoon, he started to worry.
“My neighbor called, asking me if my dog was home,” he said, “He saw one in the lake. Right away, I thought it was my dog, so I looked around and was panicked a little bit.”
It was then that Browne and a few others began to gather outside their homes at Portage Lake for a sight they couldn’t believe.
“I took initiative to run down the hill and see what was going on and sure enough, there was an older lab that looked like it was in distress,” Browne said. “I was very concerned. She’d been out there a while and the hypothermia is setting in.”
From there, a call to 911 lead to an incredible rescue effort by the Green Fire Department. Six personnel arrived at the scene to capture the dog nearly 200 feet from shore.
“Pretty bad ice, it was a half-inch thick, if that,” said fire medic Michael Mohr. “The conditions weren’t the best.”
Fire medic Justin Pratt was sent out on a raft to get the yellow lab that had been stranded for close to an hour. The rescue only took 10 minutes.
“As I was getting closer to the dog, cause I do have dogs at home, I started talking to it, trying to reassure the dog,” Pratt said. “As weird as that sounds, the dog started yipping and barking. I grabbed her by the collar and helped pull her in.”
The dog appeared to be well-fed and care for, though the owners were initially nowhere to be found.
Eventually, the Summit County Humane Society did locate its owners, thanks to the few who helped the pooch along the way.
“Pretty amazing to see the dog,” said fire medic Michael Mohr. “It was very receptive to us being there and getting it. When we got it out of the water, it was shivering. At one part in the video, there’s a tail wagging underneath the blankets.”