

Chris Fox And Chris Herhalt, CP24.com





A police officer and a firefighter were both taken to hospital with hypothermia-related symptoms after they helped rescue a dog that fell through the ice at Grenadier Pond on Saturday afternoon.

Toronto Fire Captain Michael Westwood says that emergency crews were notified at around 12:30 p.m. after the dog first fell through the ice.

Westwood said that the owner was crawling on the ice attempting to pull the dog, a 16 month-old Husky/German Shepherd mix named Whistler, from the frigid waters when crews first arrived on scene.

At that point, a police officer, later identified as Const. Mathew Abramovitz, grabbed the buoyant seat cushion out of his cruiser and attempted to go out on the ice.

“I called the owner back” Abramovitz said Saturday afternoon. Whistler had been in the water for about 10 minutes and he said it “was showing signs of fatigue.”

Abramovitz said the Whistler’s owner had fallen through the ice at one point, but was able to get to the edge of the pond and climb out.

He used the car seat cushion for flotation and latched himself with rope to two colleagues on the shore, using a metal pole to try and fetch Whistler.

“I was able to make my way out close enough to the dog and try to use a metal pole that curved at the end to get the dog’s leash out.”

But he couldn’t reach the Whistler’s collar or leash with the pole, and soon Abramovitz was swimming as well.

“Unfortunately I fell through as well – I couldn’t hook onto his collar but he actually bit on the end of pole, and I was able to pull the dog out.”

A Toronto firefighter then tried to climb out on the ice to grab Abramovitz but he also fell through the ice.

At that point, firefighters and police on boats entered the pond from Lake Ontario and were able to assist.

“It was a little bit cold,” Abramovitz said of the temperature of the pond.

All parties were out of the water by about 12:55 p.m.

Abramovitz, the firefighter and the owner of the dog were then taken to hospital amid concerns about possible hypothermia but have all since been discharged.

In the chaos of the scene once everyone was out of the water, Abramovitz said he didn’t get a chance to speak to the Whistler’s owner but later heard that he expressed his gratitude to Abramovitz’s superiors.

Abramovitz warned dog owners in the city’s parks to take precautions, even if they feel they are unnecessary.

“Owners, no matter how much you trust your dogs, you have to keep them on a leash because something bad like this could happen again.”