Wiltshire Fire & Rescue Service frozen water warning following dog rescue

Following the rescue of a dog from a Wiltshire lake on Saturday, Wiltshire Fire and Rescue Service are warning people to stay off frozen water, and not to put themselves in danger by trying to rescue pets in distress.

Watch Managers Kevin Bridgeman and Sue Foord said of Saturday’s rescue “... It was a really pleasing outcome to what could have been a very dangerous situation.”  

Group Manager Perry Payne who also attended added, “I really want to give credit here to the dog owners and the passers by – it’s an extremely emotional and distressing scene to see an incident like this happen and everyone is desperate to try and do something. The hardest thing in the world is to have the personal strength to call us and then to realise that the best thing to do is to help by giving us good information to enable us to get there quickly. Once people try to do something themselves, they immediately add to our concerns.”

“...We do have specialist teams for water and animal rescues. They have specialist training, equipment and rescue techniques and it was really rewarding to see it all in action to bring such a good result. Can I just ask people to please stay off the ice on lakes etc – the ice here looked very thick in places, but unfortunately the reality was that it wasn’t even able to take the weight of a dog let alone a person and there’s no way of telling just by looking. It really is a massive risk and frankly it’s madness to try.”

If you do experience a dog or person falling through the ice, call 999 immediately and ask for the Fire & Rescue Service - firefighters have the necessary equipment and training to make a safe rescue. Do NOT attempt any rescue of your own, as you will be putting yourself in danger.

Picture from Ell Brown's Photostream on Flickr: http://www.flickr.com/photos/ell-r-brown/