A group of Fort Lauderdale firefighters rescued a German shepherd from a canal Tuesday morning, but the first responders say the real credit belongs to the 911 callers who alerted them.
“A life’s a life. Whether it’s an animal, whether it’s a person,” said Captain David Landers with Fort Lauderdale Fire Rescue.
The incident happened at the start of the firefighters’ shift behind Sweeting Park on Northwest 23rd Avenue. Firefighters from Station 47 responded to the call after a dog was spotted in the canal.
Dog found frail but docile
Captain Landers said they made contact with the female dog before entering the canal.
“We made contact with the puppy. She was docile, very frail,” Landers said.
“There’s a little ledge there, so I didn’t have to dive in the water or anything. I just had to take my shoes off and go down and grab her out,” said Lieutenant Mason McConchie, who assisted in the rescue.
Witnesses say the dog nearly got hit by cars
The firefighters credited the good Samaritans who called 911 for making the rescue possible.
“The callers are the true heroes because had they not had called nobody would’ve known the dog was in the water,” Landers said.
Fede Skinner and Aisha Fahmy, who made the call, said they had seen the dog multiple times earlier in the morning.
“It’s pretty scary because at some point the dog was in the middle of the road. And there was like three different cars that almost hit it. It was kind of terrifying, to be honest,” said Fahmy.
After the dog disappeared, they went for a walk in the park.
“We’re talking right here and out of the corner of my eye I see something fall in the water over there and it’s the dog,” said Skinner.
“When I heard the splash I looked over. I was terrified. So I was really, really happy to like, see the dog be safe at the end,” Fahmy added.
Fort Lauderdale Police located the dog’s registered owner, who lives in St. Cloud, Florida, and will be traveling to Fort Lauderdale to pick her up.
