Firefighters Rescue Dog From River
Published: January 16, 2007
Leah, a German shepherd, was on a tighter leash - literally - on Monday, following her near-death foray into the Great Miami River over the weekend.
“She had gotten out once before, but she only went around the block,” said her relieved owner, Tiffany Trout, 25. “Now we`ve got her on a leash; we don`t just let her out.”
On Saturday, the dog wandered several miles away from home. When firefighters found her around 8:30 a.m., she was perched on a pipe in the river, 30 feet away from the riverbank, just south of the High Street bridge.
“That was pretty shocking, to find out she was actually in the river,” Trout said. “At first I thought they just got her from the side of the river, but then they explained it to me.”
There were tense moments as rain persisted, the water level swelled and the dog nearly lost her footing, said Deputy Fire Chief Greg Robbins.
When a rescue boat pulled up alongside, “The dog willingly went in,” he said. “The dog was very wet, very scared.” This was the first time fire crews pulled a dog from the river in Robbins` 26 years with the department. Crews tracked down Trout from a tag on the dog`s collar.
Had conditions been worse, the rescue might never have happened. Fire officials must weigh risk to fire personnel before deciding to attempt such a rescue.
“We would never, never endanger our own people to rescue an animal,” Robbins said. Capt. Steve Detherage decided to attempt the rescue because “the river wasn`t going that fast and that high yet,” Robbins said.
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