By CRAIG CROSBY
Staff Writer Tuesday, March 27, 2007

See a slideshow of the rescue

enlarge Staff photo by Jim Evans

Waterville Firefighter Rodney Alderman rescues a dog struggling in the Kennebec River above Ticonic Falls and below the Two-Cent footbridge on Monday morning.

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Staff photo by Jim Evans ON THIN ICE: Spectators watch along the banks of the Kennebec River as Waterville Firefighter Rodney Alderman crawls to rescue a dog (not pictured) at the edge of the ice.

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After spending about an hour desperately trying to climb onto a sheet of ice that led to shore, Mitzy was pulled to safety by Waterville Firefighter Rodney Alderman.

The dog rebounded quickly from hypothermia and by Monday afternoon was resting at Goggin's side.

"She's great," Goggin said by phone from her Colonial Street residence. "I've got her right here."

Mitzy's misadventure began around 9 a.m. Monday when Goggin was getting her two dogs out of the car at her home. Both dogs -- Mitzy and her companion, Pescia -- bolted after a cat. Pescia soon returned home, but Mitzy, a border collie/hound/beagle mix, stayed on the feline's trail.

"I looked as long as I could, but I had to go to work," Goggin said. "She does this periodically."

Goggin theorized that the 6-year-old Mitzy chased the cat across Main Street and down to the river before falling in.

The dog was found trying to climb up onto the ice around 10 a.m. by two people walking near Two-Cent Bridge.

Police and bystanders yelled encouragement to the dog from shore, approximately 150 feet away, as Mitzy's front paws scratched and clawed on the ice trying to gain a grip.

Others who watched were moved to tears by the dog's plight.

At times, Mitzy would simply rest, and her constant stream of heart-wrenching yelps would grow louder. Then the cries of, "C'mon boy," from shore would pick up again and Mitzy would scramble some more.

Firefighters arrived at a nearby parking lot just as Mitzy lost her grip on the ice and paddled further down the sheet of ice toward the waterfalls. Her yelps grew louder still as her head nearly bobbed below the surface several times and she tried to get another grip on top of the sheet of ice. Firefighters, including Alderman, who was dressed in a cold-water-rescue suit, climbed down the bank to the shore. Alderman, tethered to a rope wrapped around a tree and guided by fellow firefighters, walked, then crawled, on the ice toward Mitzy.

The ice at the edge broke just as Alderman grabbed the dog's collar. Firefighters pulled up the slack in the rope as Alderman, in the water, pushed the dog back onto the ice. Mitzy began to stagger away in the general direction of the shoreline until Alderman, who climbed back on the ice with assistance from the tether, lifted the dog up and carried her.

Alderman said he doubts the dog would have lasted much longer in the freezing water.

"(She) was pretty weak," he said.

Mitzy was wrapped in blankets and carried up the hill to an awaiting vehicle. She was taken to Dr. Alan Slack's Pleasant Street veterinary clinic and treated for hypothermia. The doctor was initially unsure if Mitzy would survive, Goggin said.

Goggin said she spent the afternoon trying to keep herself busy at work as Slack treated Mitzy.

By 3 p.m. Monday, Mitzy was finally back at home, but not before a stop at the Waterville fire station, where Goggin expressed her thanks and firefighters took pictures.

"They were excited to see her," Goggin said. "I gave them a big hug."

Mitzy is scheduled for a check-up today.

Ironically, Alderman said, Waterville firefighters recently underwent water-rescue training in New Hampshire. Monday's incident was the first time the department had used the cold-water-rescue suit in an actual emergency. It was the first time in at least a couple of years that firefighters have had to pull an animal from the river.

"We rarely do a water rescue," Alderman said.

Goggin rescued Mitzy from an abusive home about three years ago and spent nearly two years training the dog to trust people. Alderman was happy he could foster that trust.

"It's nice to know someone is still going to have their pet," he said.

"We still don't rescue cats from trees," he said with a laugh. "They get down by themselves."

Craig Crosby -- 861-9253

ccrosby@centralmaine.com