Firefighters rescued a dog from an icy pond in Billerica
The Billerica fire department praised the dog’s owner for staying off the ice.
A dog named Maya fell through an icy pond in Billerica.
Billerica firefighters completed ice rescue training at Vietnam Veterans Park last week.
Thursday morning, they put their skills to use, rescuing a dog on the same pond where they were trained.
The fire department got the call at about 8:30 a.m., said Captain Erik Szymanski. The owner of the black lab mix told his team the dog had fallen through the ice.
“The dispatcher advised the pet owner not to go in, that we were on our way,’’ said Szymanski.
The young dog, named Maya, was about 10 feet from shore, he said. A firefighter was able to pull the dog from the ice without using an ice rescue sled, said Szymanski.
The Billerica Fire Department rescued Maya.
“The dog had its front part of its body on the part of the ice that hadn’t broken,’’ said Szymanski.
The dog was in the water for about 5 to 7 minutes, said Szymanski. Once the dog was pulled from the water, she was checked out by animal control officers and was determined to be in good shape, he said.
“The dog was jumping around on everybody,’’ said Szymanski.
Szymanski said dog rescues are not common for his department. The last one happened a few years ago on the Shawsheen River. In that case, a person had gone in after the dog and firefighters needed to rescue both the person and the dog, he said.
In the case of Maya’s rescue, “the owner did the right thing and stayed out,’’ said Szymanski. “It’s always advisable to stay off the ice. There’s no safe ice, as far as we’re concerned.’’
Firefighters with Maya after the rescue.
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