In a dramatic but unsuccessful rescue attempt, Bel Air volunteer firefighters pulled a dog out of the ice-covered Bynum Pond Tuesday afternoon after she fell in and could not get out.
Lady, a shih tzu, wasn't breathing when she was pulled out by Bel Air Volunteer Fire Company firefighters Brian Winchester and Chris Wheeler, who were on the company's ladder truck extended out over the pond.
The dog was rushed by Bel Air Police to the emergency vet in Hickory, where she died.
"Unfortunately, no. The fire department and vet did everything they could, but no," Rich Gardiner, spokesman for the Harford County Volunteer Fire & EMS Association and a Bel Air fire company member, said in a text message.
Lady was at the pond with her owner, Harley Shanebrook, of Baltimore, and his 3- and 4-year-old sons.
Shanebrook had just dropped off his wife at Freedom Fighter Bail Bonds in Bel Air, where she works, and he and his sons were feeding the geese.
Lady was on her leash, tied to a tree, and the next thing he knew, Shanebook said, she was in the water.
"She was fighting, trying to get out," Shanebrook said, adding that the dog has been out in the water before and come back. "She's a good swimmer. It must be so cold, she couldn't find anything to hold on to. She fought for a while."
He said Lady was under the water for 30 seconds to a minute before firefighters went out to rescue her.
On the ladder boom, Winchester and Wheeler hovered over the opening in the ice while another firefighter, Jim Longo, dressed in underwater gear, began to crawl across the ice to the opening, but returned once Lady was pulled out.
"I gave her a hug to try and dry her off," Winchester said.
They also started CPR.
Firefighters had just done training at Bynum Pond, which is mostly ice-covered, about 10 days ago.
It took a few minutes for them to be able to look for the dog to make sure the outriggers on the ladder truck were stable and Longo was properly suited.
"If it was a kid, I would have jumped out in the water," Bel Air Assistant Chief Bill Snyder said.