Riverside County Department of Animal Services Officer Jessica Leitz-Lightfeldt for tying a rope around her waist and wading into a freezing catch basin in Hemet, California in order to save a small dog.
(FROM KTLA NEWS
4:15 AM PDT, April 1, 2010)
HEMET -- An animal services officer rescued a small dog stranded in the middle of a catch basin in Hemet.
The little Maltese mix was stuck on a small island in the middle of a catch basin near a Winco supermarket, says John Welsh of the Riverside County Department of Animal Services.
"We kept calling it," Officer Jessica Leitz-Lightfeldt said.
"But it wouldn't come. Then he started putting his head down in the water and that's when I knew I had to go in."
Officer Leitz-Lighfeldt wadded out into the catch basin, unaware of how deep the water was.
She had a rope tied around her and Lt. John Stephens held the other end on the shore of the muddy catch basin, says Welsh.
"The farther I went out there, the muddier it got," Officer Leitz-Lighfeldt said.
"It felt like I was being sucked in. I'm glad I had that rope around me."
Once Officer Leitz-Lightfoot brought the dog to shore, he was rushed to the Animal Medical Center in San Jacinto.
(RESQAK9 sends another bark-out to KTLA News for filing this report and to KTLA.com for covering this story.)
