Starving, frozen dog rescued from thin ice at Big White

KELOWNA – Firefighters say they got there just in time. 

Thanks to a hiker at Big White who spotted a dog on what's left of the ice on Lake Paul near the Powder Chair Monday, firefighters were able to complete a rescue. It was only after they saved the dog and warmed it up and found its owner that they realized it was missing for five days. 

“Time was of the essence,” Big White Fire Chief James Svendsen says in a release. “He was very stressed. I would say hypothermia was setting in. [The dog] would have died out there for sure. After he started warming up you could see the life coming back into his eyes.”

They didn't need a more technical rescue from Kelowna, so they sent on firefighter to swim to the dog with a rubber tire inner tube to get him and bring him back. They got the into a warm truck and relief set in. 

Svendsen says the owners were ecstatic to hav ehim back and he was gone so long. 

He says while this was luckily a happy ending for everyone, it should remind others of the conditions in the area. Dogs should remain on leash when hiking in the area. 

“It’s very dangerous up here right now,” he says. “There’s a lot of water running under the snow and the ice. Dogs off leash, they go running, and there’s lots of wildlife, so if they get distracted, they could easily fall through.”

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