Twice in a four-day span, the Riverside Fire Department did ice rescues on pets that fell into Houston Lake.
Assistant Fire Chief Keith Payne noted the first rescue came around 3 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 25, when a small dog fell through the ice after it got away from its owners.
Around 1 p.m. that day, Riverside, Smithville Fire Department and Homeland Security finished ice rescue training at Houston Lake. The dog was recovered and taken to a local animal hospital but didn’t survive.
The owner was trying to rescue the dog when the fire department arrived, something that Payne highly advised against.
Around 4:45 a.m. Sunday morning, Jan. 28, a local resident let their dog out and when the black lab didn’t return, they searched and found it fell through the ice. A second rescue was performed by Riverside FD, with Kansas City Fire Department on scene for assistant. This pup had a little better fortune and survived.
“Stay off the ice plain and simple, no ifs or ands about it,” Payne said. “If it is frozen, don’t walk on the ice. It doesn’t get thick enough to walk on period and it is not a good idea and keep pets off the ice as well. It is too brittle.”