Firefighters and police pulled off a daring rescue on Newgate Pond in East Granby after two Great Danes fell through the ice.
"I was walking my dogs in the woods behind my house, like I have for 30 years, and they took off. It was snowing. They didn't come and they didn't come," said Pat Arnestad of East Granby.
Arnestad thought her dogs, Poppy and Violet, were just having fun in the snow. She could hear them barking and searched for them. As she approached Newgate Pond, she quickly realized they were in serious danger.
"I came over the hill and both my dogs were in the pond. They had broken through the ice," said Arnestad.
She immediately called 911.
Firefighters from East Granby, Granby, and Suffield responded, some suiting up in cold weather gear. So did police from East Granby and EMS crews.
Violet, at 135 pounds, was about 30 feet off shore and was pulled to safety first, said Arnestad.
Poppy, at 175 pounds, was in the middle of the lake. He was rescued next after a firefighter crawled on his stomach to reach the dog, said Arnestad.
"The two members that were in the suits entered the water and made the rescue for the dogs, brought the dogs to the shore, at which time the dogs were brought up here," said Asst. Chief Wayne Bindas of the East Granby Fire Department.
They were placed inside a fire truck to warm up, Bindas said.
No one was hurt during the rescue, he said.
The dogs are now resting comfortably at home.
"I cannot say enough how appreciative I am of what everybody did this morning. If they hadn't helped, I wouldn't be sitting here with my dogs," said Arnestad. "There's a lot of good in this world and I don't think it gets recognized enough."
Photo Credit: NBC Connecticut/Chris Hall
