Video Shows Dramatic Dog Rescue In Frigid Collingswood Waters

COLLINGSWOOD, NJ - The dramatic rescue of a dog who became trapped in the icy waters of the Cooper River on Monday was captured on video. Collingswood firefighters made their way through the icy waters as temperatures plummeted into single digits. Watch video of the dramatic rescue below.

The video shows first responders breaking their way through the ice to retrieve the trapped dog, who is unable to move for much of the video.

"My face feels like it's going to fall off," the person taking the video commented on a day in which gusts of wind made an already cold day virtually unbearable.

Two first responders ventured out to rescue the dog, who was floating in the water and watching as they approached. A little more than four minutes into the video, two first responders reached the dog, who had just begun to swim around a patch of water in the middle of his icy trap.

Once they reached the dog and were able to grab him, first responders back on shore reeled them in via a raft attached to a yellow rescue line. They then used a ladder to climb up a hill, where police and firefighters back on land covered the dog and dried him off with a towel. The entire rescue took about seven minutes from the start of the video.

The dog - who was soaking wet and had icicles over his eyes - was then taken to a veterinarian, where he is reported to be doing OK, according to the Collingswood Fire Department. Westmont and Pennsauken firefighters also helped with the rescue.

Firefighters were put into ambulances to have their vitals checked, and were reportedly OK, according to CBS 3. It wasn’t clear how the dog got loose and ended up on the river, but veterinarians remind residents to keep an eye on their pets in cold weather such as this.

The rescue came one week after another dog got loose and ended up in Newton Creek in Collingswood in frigid conditions That dog was also rescued, but didn’t survive, according to njpen.com.

Video/image via YouTube.