Greeley – Taz was desperately doggy paddling to keep his head above water in a freezing cold pond in Two Rivers Park when firefighters arrived.
The frisky dog had bolted away from his owner, Louis Maldonado, while the two were walking through the park Sunday afternoon and ran onto the ice, said Dale Lyman, division chief of the Union Colony Fire Rescue Authority.
As Maldonado approached the pond, Taz fell into a section of open water. He struggled to pull himself but but couldn t climb up onto the ice, Lyman said.
Firefighters arrived a short while later, and Frank Villa bravely slipped on a wet suit and walked out to the hole in the ice attached to a rope.
Finding it easier and quicker to help Taz from in the water instead of leaning over from the ice, Villa jumped into the pond.
Taz eagerly swam into Villa’s arms and they were pulled by a rope up onto the ice.
All ended well and safely.
But firefighters took the opportunity to warn residents of the dangers of walking onto thin ice, for dogs and especially for children.
