Dog rescued after falling through Seymour Lake ice

UPDATE: According to Nick Uphus with Mat-Su Borough Animal Care and Control, the dog has been reunited with its owner. Uphus said the mastiff had a microchip which enabled animal shelter staff to locate the owners.

Original story:

MEADOW LAKES — A local mastiff was cold and wet but otherwise unharmed after taking a bath in the icy waters of Seymour Lake on Friday.

A lakeside resident saw the large, brindle-colored dog plunge through the thin, rotting ice of the lake Friday afternoon. When it became apparent the dog couldn’t get out on its own, she immediately contacted authorities.

“I thought it was a moose calf at first,” said Cheryl Grogan, who lives in a house alongside the lake.

A Mat-Su Borough Animal Control officer responded, as did members of the borough’s dive team. Before the dive team could deploy its inflatable boat, another neighbor, Rodney Priebe, arrived on scene with an aluminum canoe and offered to help. Animal control officer Nick Uphus grabbed a couple life preservers, hopped in Priebe’s flat-bottomed canoe and the men started paddling out toward the stranded dog.

Grogan said she wasn’t surprised that Priebe offered to help.

“He stepped into action like he always does,” she said of the longtime Meadow Lakes resident.

The men used paddles to push through the thin ice and propel the canoe slowly toward the dog. By the time they reached the animal, Priebe said the mastiff was in bad shape.

“He went under twice,” he said.

Priebe and Uphus were able to grab the big dog by its collar — Uphus estimated the animal weighed about 120 pounds — and haul it over the side of the canoe.

“We just grabbed a hold of his collar and pulled like a son-of-a-gun,” said Preibe, who has lived alongside the lake for more than 25 years.

By the time the dog was aboard the canoe, the dive rescue team was paddling out in an inflatable boat. They reached the canoe and attached a rope, which other rescuers used to tow both vessels back to shore.

Grogan estimated it took between 40 minutes and an hour to get the dog out of the water. That was nearly too long.

“He was not much help, he was close to dead,” Preibe said.

Uphus said the dog had a collar and microchip, and animal control was working to find its owner Friday afternoon. Aside from being a bit chilly, the mastiff appeared no worse for wear.

“He’s cold and stiff but he’s already starting to limber up,” said Uphus, who suffered the only minor injury of the rescue when he cut his finger while hauling the dog aboard the canoe.

Dog rescues are common this time of year, as ice on local lakes continues to melt out.

“This is probably the sixth or seventh already this year,” Uphus said.

The rescue was at least the second in the past couple days, according to the Mat-Su Borough. On Thursday, the borough issued a warning through its Facebook page telling of dog that fell through the ice on Beaver Lake and was rescued by its owner and the owner’s friend.

“Please be careful,” read the warning. “Don’t trust the ice with your weight. Watch your kids and your pets near ice. It’s breakup.”