Dog Rescued from the Los Angeles River

Shephard Smith, on his afternoon program, showed the successful rescue of a large dog by helicopter out of the Los Angeles River. I have seen this riverbed and in normal times it doesn't have any water in it. All you see are big rocks. On Friday January 22, 2010 there was plenty of rapidly flowing water in the river. Apparently someone spotted the dog and called fire and rescue. Because of all the rain they've been getting in California there was about 18 inches of water in the river. Lucky for the dog that he was big. He looked like a German Shepherd. If he had been a smaller dog I'm sure he would have drowned. On either side of the river banks there are steep concrete walls and the dog couldn't get out. You had to feel sorry for the poor animal as he was just standing in the middle of the river not knowing what to do. It looked impossible for him to get out of the river without help.

Fire and rescue was on hand to try to save the dog. They tried climbing into the water to grab the dog, but it was so scared that anytime they tried to get close the dog would go in the opposite direction. Finally they brought in a helicopter which herded the dog to the edge of the cement embankment. I guy dropped down from the helicopter on a line and managed to grab the dog. The animal was pretty frightened and wasn't cooperating very well. It took a few minutes for the man to get the dog in hand. As he moved out away from the edge of the river, the helicopter pulled the man and the struggling dog up. Both man and dog were then deposited on a nearby bridge.

You have to admire someone who would put themselves in harm's way for a helpless dog. I think this is a great story. The story had kind of a happy ending. Both man and dog were pulled from the river. Unfortunately the dog was so frightened that he bit the man who had to be hospitalized for his injuries.

The funny thing about this is how many people in the country were watching this rescue? I was amazed by how much coverage this event received. Nevertheless, I'm happy that the dog was rescued and I hope that the man recovers quickly. Maybe Fox will interview him to see what he was thinking as he wrestled the dog out of the water.

Source:
Video of the rescue http://www.foxnews.com/search-results/m/28496396/incredible-dog-rescue.htm#q=dog+rescue
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,583678,00.html