How will we do without our dog friends? When you decide to take a four-legged puppy into your own family, you also decide to face, in addition to the joys that the animal manages to transmit, also all the varied and eventual negative consequences: the dog could get sick, or get lost in the woods or anywhere else. Ultimately, the risk of receiving a blow to the heart is always there. Probably also the owner of the small dog that had been lost and unfortunately fallen in the icy waters of Ellicott Island Park, an immense natural park that is located in Buffalo and that is crossed by the waters of the Tonawanda Creek River, a tributary of the Niagara. In winter, these are places that can get very cold and the water can actually freeze. Luckily, the puppy has been heroically saved by a man who was walking in the park with his two dogs.
Donald Chatten, a 50-year-old man, was walking quietly in the park with his two dogs, Duke and Milo, when a man approached him with a desperate air, asking him if he had seen a black Terrier dog named Jackson. Donald has immediately tried to help that man in difficulty, knowing very well what it feels like to be in pain for one’s own dog. Duke and Milo began to walk around the area and in the end, they managed to find the little Terrier: he had fallen into the icy waters of Tonawanda Creek!
Donald immediately called the national emergency number to request rescuers, but in his heart, he knew that the dog would not have lasted long. If they had waited for the rescuers, the Terrier would not have endured. Donald, then, with great courage, has decided to personally intervene to try to save the puppy: he has entered the water breaking the ice, managing to grasp the little black dog that, with great difficulty, was struggling to stay afloat. The man knew that the waters in that place were not high, because it was a place where he often went since he was little. Likewise, he has shown great courage.
Some of the passersby who attended the helpless scene were able to photograph Donald’s heroic gesture and post the photos to a Facebook group. The owner of the Terrier has not stopped for a second thanking Donald for his courage and immediately took his Jackson to the vet. Luckily, the animal was still in good health and apart from a little scared, the story unfolded in the best possible way.
Images: Facebook/Friends of Ellicott Island Bark Park – Samantha Eve