Dog rescued from icy waters of Lake Ontario after morning stroll

CTV Toronto: Dog saved after dramatic rescue A usual everyday walk in the park was anything but usual for one dog owner Wednesday morning. Tamara Cherry reports.

A morning walk along the Lake Ontario shoreline ended in a rescue operation Wednesday, after a dog wound up stuck in the icy water.

Nicolle Lee was out walking her Labrador-Australian Shepherd, Rocket, when the dog took an interest in a stick poking out of the water.

"He started to swim this way toward the ice flows down there and then he got stuck," Lee told CTV Toronto.

Lee said she was tempted to wade into the water to try and help Rocket, but decided to stay on shore instead, where she and some helpful passersby tried to effort a rescue.

When their attempts to throw sticks at Rocket proved futile, they decided to place a desperate call to 9-1-1.

Const. Patrick McLeod, of the Toronto Police Marine Unit, said when he heard of the rescue call, he assumed the worst.

"Lo and behold we had a call over here for our usual scenario: dog's gone into the water and it looks like the owner's going in after it," McLeod said.

So the marine unit, which just happened to be conducting a training exercise nearby, raced to the scene where they discovered such fears were unfounded.

Lee was still on dry land, and four uniformed police officers were already there, using sticks to move the ice so Rocket could swim his own way out.

Rocket may have been cold, but he was safe.

"And the owner was good for a change and stayed on shore and was not trying to effect a rescue," McLeod said, warning anyone who finds themselves in a similar scenario to make good choices.

"I understand people love their pets, but once you get in that water, you're gonna go down fast, you're gonna lose all use of your arms and legs."

With files from CTV's Tamara Cherry