|
|
|
A state trooper took a polar bear plunge Monday afternoon to rescue a Golden Retriever who had fallen through the ice in a large pond at the Emerald Springs apartment complex.
Trooper Jim Bailey and the dog – a rambunctious 2-year-old named Abby – were cold and wet but seemed to be OK after the incident.
It all started around lunchtime Monday at the Elmwood Lane home of Stacy and Theresa Gross, when Abby and the Grosses’ other dog, a 1-year-old chocolate Lab named Annie, barreled past Theresa Gross and escaped out the door.
They were running loose around the neighborhood when Gross flagged down Bailey’s cruiser to ask for help.
A short time later, Bailey spotted the dog in the nearby Emerald Springs pond and radioed for backup, triggering a response by other troopers and the Forest View-Gang Mills Fire Department.
Abby had broken through the ice about 20 feet offshore and was struggling frantically to get out.
Bailey, a Painted Post-based trooper, happens to be a member of a state police dive team, but he was on regular duty and didn’t have his wetsuit and gear. Nonetheless, he tied a rope around his waist and waded out.
“He had to break through the ice with a crowbar the whole way out to where the dog was,h said Bailey’s colleague, Sr. Inv. Curt Eaton, who assisted him.
After pulling the dog to safety, Bailey was covered in blankets by police and firefighters, and then checked out by a Rural/Metro Ambulance crew.
Abby was reunited in an SUV with her pal Annie, and then taken home.
Theresa Gross was overcome with emotion after the rescue. Stacy Gross said later he was very grateful.
“I have two daughters, and they would have been very distraught,” he said. “The dogs mean everything to them.”
A state trooper took a polar bear plunge Monday afternoon to rescue a Golden Retriever who had fallen through the ice in a large pond at the Emerald Springs apartment complex.
Trooper Jim Bailey and the dog – a rambunctious 2-year-old named Abby – were cold and wet but seemed to be OK after the incident.
It all started around lunchtime Monday at the Elmwood Lane home of Stacy and Theresa Gross, when Abby and the Grosses’ other dog, a 1-year-old chocolate Lab named Annie, barreled past Theresa Gross and escaped out the door.
They were running loose around the neighborhood when Gross flagged down Bailey’s cruiser to ask for help.
A short time later, Bailey spotted the dog in the nearby Emerald Springs pond and radioed for backup, triggering a response by other troopers and the Forest View-Gang Mills Fire Department.
Abby had broken through the ice about 20 feet offshore and was struggling frantically to get out.
Bailey, a Painted Post-based trooper, happens to be a member of a state police dive team, but he was on regular duty and didn’t have his wetsuit and gear. Nonetheless, he tied a rope around his waist and waded out.
“He had to break through the ice with a crowbar the whole way out to where the dog was,h said Bailey’s colleague, Sr. Inv. Curt Eaton, who assisted him.
After pulling the dog to safety, Bailey was covered in blankets by police and firefighters, and then checked out by a Rural/Metro Ambulance crew.
Abby was reunited in an SUV with her pal Annie, and then taken home.
Theresa Gross was overcome with emotion after the rescue. Stacy Gross said later he was very grateful.
“I have two daughters, and they would have been very distraught,” he said. “The dogs mean everything to them.”
