This dog wasn’t only man’s best friend, it was man’s best chance for survival.
A man in Michigan was walking out on a frozen Arbutus Lake this past week when a worst case scenario played out. There’s a reason why officials warn people not to walk out on frozen bodies of water, and this guy learned that lesson the hard way.
The man, who was walking with his dog Ruby, fell through the ice, and he immediately knew he was in trouble. Fortunately for him, there were bystanders near the lake that were able to alert the authorities to come and assist.
Michigan State Police officer Kameron Bennetts responded to the call, and before he left the station, he grabbed a rescue disc, which is normally used for water rescues. Bennetts didn’t have time to think, so he grabbed whatever he thought could be helpful and drove out to the location of the man in distress.
When the officer arrived on the scene, he grabbed the disc and carefully made his way out onto the ice. Bennetts could see the man with his dog sticking partially out of the frozen lake, and he did his best to comfort him with commands from afar.
Bennetts carefully traversed the frozen lake, and when he deemed the ice too thin to go any farther, he attempted to use the rescue disk by throwing it out towards the man in the frigid water. Though he made a couple of good throws, he could not get close enough to the man submerged in the lake.
That’s when he had an idea to tie the rescue disk to the man’s dog Ruby. Bennetts called the loyal pet over, tied the roped device to its collar, and then sent it back onto the thin ice over to its owner.
Ruby ran right to her owner, and the man was able to grab ahold of the rescue disc and was pulled to safety. There’s no telling how things would have went down without the help of Ruby, but the police report definitely gave a lot of credit to the dog for potentially saving her owner’s life:
“On Thursday, January 18, 2024, at approximately 11:45 a.m. Michigan State Police Motor Carrier Officer (MCO) Kammeron Bennetts responded to call of a 65-year old Traverse City man that had fell through the ice in Arbutus Lake in East Bay Township.
Bystanders on the shore called 911 after witnessing the man fall through the ice.
The quick actions of MCO Bennetts along with the help from Ruby (the man’s dog), they were able to perform a successful ice rescue. The man was in the water for approximately 16 minutes.”
Shoutout to Ruby, hopefully she’s getting extra treats and larger meal portions after she aided in a dramatic and dangerous rescue mission.
The harrowing response and rescue was all captured on body camera footage, and can be viewed below:
