Municipal employee rescues dog
NEW WATERFORD — There was a royal welcome waiting for a golden Lab named Prince, after a municipal employee rescued the dog from the icy ocean waters off New Waterford on Thursday afternoon.
“The dog was wagging his tail and the owner was pretty happy, so all is good,” said Rick Ellerbrok of Sydney, a Cape Breton Regional Municipality public works employee.
At about 1:45 p.m., Ellerbrok and co-worker J.D. Lovett were driving through Lingan making sure the roads were clear when they saw people on shore near the Lingan Wharf off Lingan Beach Road, hollering to a dog struggling in the water.
“The dog was trying to get back up on the ice but wasn't getting anywhere,” he said. “The owner was in pretty bad shape, she was having a hard time.”
Someone said they had a boat in a yard nearby and Ellerbrok said they went up and grabbed it and he began paddling through the broken ice to the dog.
Upon reaching the dog, Ellerbrok said it was obvious the animal had to be quickly removed from the water. He took the paddle and put it under the dog's backside, pushing him back up on the ice.
“The dog ran back to shore, wagging his tail and everything," Ellerbrok said, adding the owner was pretty excited. “It was great.”
Chief Raymond Eksal of the Scotchtown Volunteer Fire Department said they received a call regarding a dog falling through the ice.
When they arrived the dog was still in the water about 75 feet from shore and the CBRM employee was already in the boat trying to reach the dog.
“The boat was breaking through the ice,” Eksal said.
Following the rescue, Eksal said the dog was sluggish but other than that was OK.
“Everyone was quite relieved and quite happy to see the dog was OK,” he added.
The Dominion Volunteer Fire Department's water rescue unit was also on the scene.
Eksal said once the dog was out of the water, the municipal employee in the boat was pretty tired from paddling, a strenuous task through breaking ice.
“We got one of the Dominion guys there in a dry suit to take a rope to him and we pulled him into shore.”
Eksal said he didn't have a chance to talk to the dog's owner to find out what happened and even missed the reunion between the dog and owner as once the dog was safe he was concentrating on getting Ellerbrok back to shore safely.
Ellerbrok was happy to have been pulled back to shore.
“I was out there relaxing," he said. “Having a rest, to get my breath back.”
Members of the Glace Bay and Sydney Mines water rescue units were also on their way to the scene but Eksal sent word for them to stand down.