Man strips to rescue dog from frozen river

East News pictures East News pictures

A DOG lover stripped to his pants to rescue his pet from a frozen river.

The man risked his own life to cross the thin ice on the River Stour, Dedham, before falling in.

But he managed to rescue the dog.

His actions have been condemned by firefighters as "extremely dangerous".

See the full story in Tuesday's Gazette.

Comments(25)

totallyfootball says...
10:19am Mon 13 Feb 12

One word........idiot, I to am a dog lover so why let it get on the rivier in the first place? People like this should be locked up for their own safety.

Colonel Kurtz says...
10:31am Mon 13 Feb 12

Hilarious. All the Health and safety jobsworth's are up in arms. I love it

The Yellow Peril says...
10:40am Mon 13 Feb 12

Love the picture - a man in his pants crawling across thin ice. Yes, he's an idiot but people will do almost anything for their pets. It must have been really cold!

concernedrefuture says...
11:55am Mon 13 Feb 12

Does this man never read the news? Every year there are numerous cases of people being drowned doing just this sort of stupid thing - invariably the dog gets out on it's own and the frantic owner succumbs to the cold - what a burke!!

wellnow says...
2:07pm Mon 13 Feb 12

it's his life.would you be thought a fool if you tried to rescue him???...

stevie,essex says...
3:27pm Mon 13 Feb 12

wellnow wrote:
it's his life.would you be thought a fool if you tried to rescue him???...
Or a child?????

jas1966 says...
5:15pm Mon 13 Feb 12

Very lucky man but dogs are a mans best friend

6079 Smith W says...
6:26pm Mon 13 Feb 12

Colonel Kurtz wrote:
Hilarious. All the Health and safety jobsworth's are up in arms. I love it
By 'Health and safety jobsworth's' (sic), you can only mean the fire fighters whose job it is to risk their own lives to rescue idiots like this. Next time, Colonel, engage brain first, then type.

25414nora says...
6:30pm Mon 13 Feb 12

So easy to pre judge, and to condemn the bloke, and Hindsight is a wonderful thing. But to many people their pet dogs are as loved as one of the family. When we are faced with the stark horror of a family member in peril, we tend to act first and think afterwards. I personally consider this man a hero, and if he has children, I bet they do too.

californianana says...
10:50pm Mon 13 Feb 12

well said. Nora. things can be replaced but not lives. when we had our fire we got the dogs out. first even tho we lost things that. cannot be replaced the love and enjoyment our dogs give us can never be replaced or forgotten

jut1972 says...
11:25pm Mon 13 Feb 12

Yep, I'm with Nora and Californiana, we all know its stupid but if you have a dog they are like having kids.

(I have both before you start).

Of course the bloke is an idiot, but I bet he was fully aware of the danger and I imagine he would do the same again.

Totallyfootball, if you have a dog, it must be very well trained otherwise you would know occasionally no matter what the best trained animals revert to type and do something stupid. A bit like humans in that respect.

Boris says...
12:09am Tue 14 Feb 12

Surely any real dog lover knows that as you approach a frozen lake or river you put your dog on a lead. This man is not a dog lover at all, he is an idiot pure and simple, who stupidly allowed his dog to risk its life as well as his. And as Winston says, someone else is then going to have to rescue him if he falls in. According to the EADT he did fall in but survived, as did his dog, so well done them, but next time they may not be so lucky.
.
Britain is full of very bad dog owners, notably the ones who have staffies, rottweilers and similar which could attack children at any time, and quite often do. And yet they take these uncontrollable so-called pets out in public off the lead, ready to ruin the lives of some innocent family.

californianana says...
2:08am Tue 14 Feb 12

Boris. my friend. even tho we have strict. leash laws there's always some idiot who thinks the law doesn't apply to him and this is where the problems start. it not only protects people it also protects our pets. I. know it sounds funny but I have a friend who walks her cat on a leash instead of letting. him run all over

Feisty CBC says...
2:46am Tue 14 Feb 12

Probably foolhardy to say the least. However, if that's the only thing you love you'll do anything. The photograph shows a man's love for his pet nothing else.

Lawford Lass says...
9:29am Tue 14 Feb 12

How embarassing to make the national press in your undercrackers! lol

EmmaHills says...
12:12pm Tue 14 Feb 12

Boris wrote:
Surely any real dog lover knows that as you approach a frozen lake or river you put your dog on a lead. This man is not a dog lover at all, he is an idiot pure and simple, who stupidly allowed his dog to risk its life as well as his. And as Winston says, someone else is then going to have to rescue him if he falls in. According to the EADT he did fall in but survived, as did his dog, so well done them, but next time they may not be so lucky. . Britain is full of very bad dog owners, notably the ones who have staffies, rottweilers and similar which could attack children at any time, and quite often do. And yet they take these uncontrollable so-called pets out in public off the lead, ready to ruin the lives of some innocent family.
Oh there goes Boris again with his small minded attitude!I'd just like to point out that my staffie is four years old and to this day, has still not managed to eat a whole child!

I would also like to point out the Fire Brigade on this occassion, according to the BBC, were not called out..

No.1 says...
7:49pm Tue 14 Feb 12

I think its caring and a lovely ending, though I would of climbed the tree, wrapped my legs around and swung down grabbing the dog (all in one motion). Also the lead that should be round the dogs neck, I would of used that to pull myself and the dog back up.

ShallowRemarks says...
7:53pm Tue 14 Feb 12

Considering the man stripped down to his underpants I can only assume he half expected to end up in the water and the water there is not too deep. Still not a good idea.

jag99 says...
8:49am Wed 15 Feb 12

So what if he tried to rescue his dog? All very well for us to pass judgement and scoff, but if it was someones child he'd have been heralded as a heroe...

As for the fire brigade I'm not sure why their opinion was sought as they weren't involved.

I'd rather have people willing to do something, rather than those who would stand idly by and do nothing... As was the case with the 10 year old boy in 2007 who drowned in a pond whilst two PCSOs looked on claiming H&S prevented them going in to help him!?!

As crazy as the chap with his dog might have been, good on him for having a go, what would you do if someone, or some animal was in trouble ? would you walk on, or help in whatever way you could? (Or would you check your H&S guidelines?!)

Cuthbert says...
10:34am Wed 15 Feb 12

I'm no dog lover, but I'm siding with the dog owner on this occasion, rather than the emergency services.

Yes, he shouldn't have let it happen, but at least it shows he truly cares for his pet.

Boris says...
2:55am Thu 16 Feb 12

californianana wrote:
Boris. my friend. even tho we have strict. leash laws there's always some idiot who thinks the law doesn't apply to him and this is where the problems start. it not only protects people it also protects our pets. I. know it sounds funny but I have a friend who walks her cat on a leash instead of letting. him run all over
Californianana, if you google "pig puppy clacton" you can read the saga of the lady in Clacton who takes her pet pig for a walk on a lead. One day it was attacked by a large poodle puppy which was not on a lead. The puppy owner was obviously at fault for failing to keep her puppy on a lead, but tried to blame the pig and its owner.
.
Two or three years ago, a friend of mine was walking her small dog on a lead at the Recreation Ground. It was attacked by a much larger dog which was on the loose. When she wrote to the Gazette to demand better controls on dogs, there was a barrage of letters attacking her and asserting the right of everyone to let their dogs run free in public places.
.
My sister lives in a village near Colchester and sometimes she has our other sister's dog, a whippet, to stay for a week or two. She takes the whippet for walks on a lead, but has to avoid certain times of day because they are certain to encounter loose dogs which could attack it.
.
I could go on, but anyone else could quote similar stories to prove that dogs should be controlled, using muzzles and leads.

Boris says...
2:59am Thu 16 Feb 12

EmmaHills wrote:
Boris wrote:
Surely any real dog lover knows that as you approach a frozen lake or river you put your dog on a lead. This man is not a dog lover at all, he is an idiot pure and simple, who stupidly allowed his dog to risk its life as well as his. And as Winston says, someone else is then going to have to rescue him if he falls in. According to the EADT he did fall in but survived, as did his dog, so well done them, but next time they may not be so lucky. . Britain is full of very bad dog owners, notably the ones who have staffies, rottweilers and similar which could attack children at any time, and quite often do. And yet they take these uncontrollable so-called pets out in public off the lead, ready to ruin the lives of some innocent family.
Oh there goes Boris again with his small minded attitude!I'd just like to point out that my staffie is four years old and to this day, has still not managed to eat a whole child!

I would also like to point out the Fire Brigade on this occassion, according to the BBC, were not called out..
Emma, I'm pleased that your staffie has not yet eaten any whole children. Just the odd arm or leg?
And I never mentioned the fire brigade.
.
Anyway, well done you for having a well-brought-up staffie. Not all owners train their dogs as well as you evidently did.

notuagen says...
5:42pm Fri 17 Feb 12

that staffie has still got plenty of time.it's in the blood good one minute then stuffing their faces with kids of any colour the next.

Boris says...
3:28pm Sat 18 Feb 12

notuagen wrote:
that staffie has still got plenty of time.it's in the blood good one minute then stuffing their faces with kids of any colour the next.
Oo-er.

EmmaHills says...
2:02pm Tue 21 Feb 12

notuagen wrote:
that staffie has still got plenty of time.it's in the blood good one minute then stuffing their faces with kids of any colour the next.
Don't worry yourself about that.. he's trained to just eat people with stereotypical small minded views rather than children and seeing as there's so many of them about, that should keep him full for years to come..

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