The Los Angeles Fire Department has successfully pulled a dog out of a river, which ended up being a 2.5-hour rescue.
The crew has made many other efforts to get this dog named Scooby to safety, including rescuing his owner.
Before Scooby was brought to safety, the crews were desperately telling people not to try to save the dog. This was said after a 28-year-old was bitten from jumping in the water to try to rescue it, and also had to be rescued himself.
Captain II Erik Scott from LAFD held a press conference after the rescue urging the public to leave these kinds of water rescues to the professionals.
Scott said, “We know that individual was well-intentioned as well as other people are obviously very concerned about that canine, you better believe we are too. But when civilians jump in who don’t have the proper personal protective equipment and training to effect a rescue, they often become patients themselves.”
After the dog bit the man, the dog continued downstream and the man was rescued.
Scott continued, “The poor canine was very tired, very scared, and the more people were around, the more scared he got, and he did bite that well-intentioned 28-year-old male that was trying to help him, and that’s another reason we don’t want people jumping in for these canines because they’re obviously scared.”
The dog was finally rescued after what is believed to be a 2.5-hour rescue.
Officer Armando Navarrete said, “A lot of people love their animals and we do too but if you do something that’s going to cause yourself danger, the Fire Department is going to go to the people first, and animal second. It’s just human safety first.”
Scooby was brought to East Valley Animal Shelter where he will get evaluated. His age is not yet discovered.
The officials said that all Scooby had was light abrasion on his paws.
He met back with his family not too long after. The dog’s owner was not yet discovered and was unhoused.
watch the video on YouTube.
