January 15, 2003

Dog stays afloat in icy water awaiting rescue

      Ernest Baden was outside feeding his birds Tuesday morning when he heard his beloved dog, Maggie, yelp she’d been hit by a car. Spotting her in the icy water of a small pond nearby, Baden debated what to do: put the dog out of her misery, save her himself or call 911. After a futile attempt with plywood, a small garden tractor and a ladder, 66-year-old Baden called rescue crews. A cold-water rescue team from the White River Twp Fire Dept, with help from Bargersville firefighters, was able to pull Maggie from the pond. She was soaking wet, cold and exhausted, but alive and recovering, Baden said Tuesday afternoon. “She’s wore out and wobbly on the rear end,” Baden said, referring to how his dog had used her hind legs to paddle for what he estimates is 40 minutes before she was finally rescued. White River Twp Firefighter Bruce Alexander went out on the ice to save the dog. For rescuers, it wasn’t an issue of weather to carry out a risky cold water rescue. “We’re not going to stand by and let an animal like that suffer,” Bargersville firefighter Mike Pruitt said. The rescue attracted all kind of attention. The dispatcher who first heard Baden’s call for help got someone else to take over emergency lines and came to the scene to photograph the rescue. Two Sheriffs deputies showed up to the house in the 4200 block of Banta Road, in the corner of Morgan County, to see if they could help. “Boy was there ever an army here,” Baden said. “They’re a first class outfit.” Maggie, a 9-year-old Labrador and husky mix, is a smart little mutt dog, Baden said. “I’m just really glad to have my dog,” he said.    (Reprinted with permission from the Daily Journal.)

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