Lost Dog Falls Through An Icy Creek And Gets Rescued Just In The Nick Of Time
Louise Peralta
No temperature is too high or too low for this pet parent!
In spite of the cold winter weather of December and the mixed emotions of seeing the family dog crying and whining in the middle of the icy cold pond, one brave dad didn’t even hesitate to jump in to save his dog.
Moose was on the loose, and the local residents of Anne Arundel County in Maryland banded together to help find the slippery dog.
Moose is an Ausiedoodle that was left in the care of a dog sitter just before Christmas, as his fur parents were headed to California for the holidays.
Nicolina Converso, the dogsitter, said that Moose seemed pretty comfortable in her house, but dogs can get unpredictable at times. On the morning of December 23, Moose decided to run out of Converso’s house, and he wouldn’t be found until 6 days later.
"I opened the door to pick up a tree on my patio and he just went on out. We couldn’t catch him, we just couldn’t," Converso said.
The dogsitter immediately informed the Nicolao family about the devastating news that their dog is now on the loose.
"My heart just dropped. It was a complete moment of, 'oh my gosh,'" Nicolao said.
I couldn’t even imagine the dread they must’ve felt when they heard the news.
Converso went online and asked for help in their local Facebook group and people immediately gave support. The community quickly grew and they eventually ended up making their own Facebook group called Operation Fur Fugitive. The group is still being used today where people post about other missing pets and other pet parenting tips.
Converso’s post was successful. The community sent in their Moose sightings to the concerned dogsitter. But it was when a woman reported about a dog wandering out onto a frozen creek, and heard the dog whining and crying, that they finally found Moose.
PHOTO: WJLA.COM/7NEWS DCThe Nicolao family was immediately informed. They’re back in Maryland at this point, so Louis Nicolao was already on his way to retrieve his dog as soon as possible.
Nicolao said, "And I can't express to you the joy, then immediate fear that took over. It was like, ‘oh my god, what am I gonna do?’"
But it turns out that Nicolao would know exactly what to do. You see, it turns out that Louis is the U.S. Naval Academy water polo coach. Naturally, he’d be at home in the water, freezing or not.
Nicolao jumped into the icy creek and swam his dog to safety.
"I went from this point of complete despair to here, I got a chance to save his life... And it was overwhelming, it was awesome,” Nicolao said. “And to all the people, the community, we teach this all the time in sports and in the academy-- it's community over individual. It's team over individual. Everybody came together for this one little dog! I'd be forever grateful."
PHOTO: WJLA.COM/7NEWS DCMoose was discharged from the local emergency vet soon after getting rescued and he wasn’t harmed in any way! If you want to read more about his rescue journey, check out the Operation Fur Fugitive Facebook page.
If you want to see how Moose is doing, watch him in the video below!
