After working more than an hour, the Chicago Police Marine Unit this morning rescued a German shepherd wandering on the icy surface of the Chicago River near Navy Pier.
The dog was stranded about 20 yards out on the water, said Marine Unit Officer Vince Zajek, who first spotted the dog around 6:15 a.m. upon arriving for work at the unit station south of the pier.
A seven-unit team wearing wet suits and flotation devices used rope pulleys to position an inflatable raft to bring the wet and shivering dog to land about 8:30 a.m.
“It was dangerous because it was a dog that had to be rescued, and we’re not going to risk human life,” said Zajek, who led the rescue operation. “We weren’t going to rescue the dog until we got a good flotation device and the diver was tethered.”
The dog fell into the water twice while the rescue effort unfolded, but he was able to pull himself back on the ice, Zajek said.
The whole rescue took about 90 minutes, he said.
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Rescuers did not locate an owner, but Zajek said the dog was wearing a collar and may have run away.
“The dog was lucky because we were able to get the raft over to him, and because he was tired enough that he wasn’t impossible to bring in,” said Marine Unit Sgt. Jim Gantz.
During the rescue, the dog bit a female officer in the hand, but it did not puncture the skin.
“That poor dog was scared out of his mind,” Gantz said. “By the time the rescue team reached him, he was exhausted.”
After the rescue, the city Department of Animal Care and Control took the dog to a shelter where he was to be held for observation for at least seven days, Gantz said.
“If he doesn’t have an owner, I want first dibs on him,” Gantz said. “I’ve been thinking about getting a dog, so this is like a nudge.”
Gantz said the marine unit rescues at least three dogs a year in Chicago. Zajek, an eight-year veteran of the department, said he was part of a team that rescued a dog from Lake Michigan two weeks ago.