Dog rescued from Chicago River
From the online Chicago Tribune... a story with a happy outcome...
Dog rescued from Chicago River
By Jeremy Gorner | Tribune staff reporter
4:45 AM CDT, September 27, 2007
Miss Pickles smelled a rat.
She also chased one into the Chicago River.
Quickly, the dog police described as a bull mastiff was the object of a sizable rescue effort.
Miss Pickles' owner, however, had no intention of jumping in after her. Instead, he called 911, summoning police and fire personnel to the river bank near Division and Halsted Streets, where Miss Pickles was paddling.
Thanks to the quick response by divers from the Chicago Police marine unit and the Fire Department, the dog was saved.
"The dog was licking my hand," said Police Sgt. Harry Jozefowicz, who was at the scene. "It was none the worse for the wear. It was happy to be rescued."
At about 10:30 p.m. Wednesday, the dog's owner was walking Miss Pickles and his three other dogs on leashes along the North Branch river banks by a bridge near Halsted and Chicago Avenue. According to police, Miss Pickles spotted the rat while sniffing along the bank and gave chase.
After falling in the water, Miss Pickles began to paddle eastbound underneath the bridge, before heading north around the Goose Island turnaround, Jozefowicz said. A Fire Department diver spotted the dog by a bridge near Division and Halsted, about a half-mile from where she went into the river.
The diver "went into the water, propped the dog up and put a rope around the dog's collar," Jozefowicz said. The diver pulled Miss Pickles to safety in a matter of seconds, the sergeant said, adding that the rescue effort lasted about 15 minutes.
A short time later, Miss Pickles was reunited with her grateful owner, who only identified himself as "Claude."
"I want to thank the Fire Department and the police for saving my dog," the owner said.
The rat got away.
Jozefowicz said Miss Pickles' owner did the right thing calling for help instead of trying to rescue the dog on his own.
At least two people lost their lives in the Chicago area over the last year and a half attempting to rescue dogs from water.
Copyright © 2007, Chicago Tribune
