While most family pets were warm, dry and eagerly awaiting food to drop on the floor during Super Bowl Sunday preparations Feb. 5, a beloved female dog was fighting for her life in a half frozen pond.
While most family pets were warm, dry and eagerly awaiting food to drop on the floor during Super Bowl Sunday preparations Feb. 5, a beloved female dog was fighting for her life in a half frozen pond.
The 1-year-old mixed-breed pit bull named Tonka had gotten out of the yard of her owner, Fiona Pausch, on Chillicothe Road early that morning and wandered onto a pond at 12265 Shiloh Dr.
“My husband came and told me there was a puppy in our pond,” Judy Meyer said via phone interview Feb. 13. “It was just a small section of the pond that was open because of the windmill (aerator) was keeping it open. We had kept it open year round because we had ducks here.”
Both Judy and her husband, Bob, thought maybe the dog belonged to their neighbor, but when they called him, he confirmed his dog was at home.
“So then I thought, who do I call?” Judy said. “I did not want my husband to try to do this because he’s almost 80 years old. So I thought I’ll call the fire department. They came right away.”
Fire Chief John Wargelin said his department received the call at 9:42 a.m. and arrived by 9:46 a.m.
“When the crew got to the pond, the dog was approximately 20 feet out,” the chief said.
Judy said while she waited for them to arrive, she watched the dog through her binoculars and kept seeing it going under the water.
“I can’t count the number of times that dog went under and I was worried sick they’re not going to make it,” she said. “When they came, one (firefighter) was already in (his wet) suit and went across the ice on his stomach. (The dog) went under and I thought that’s the last time.”
Wargelin said firefighter Ted Shannon was the man who shimmied across the pond to rescue Tonka as four other firefighters — Lt. Mitch Plunk, the officer in charge, Ryan Fowler, Joe Pavilonis and Daniel Lallitto — helped drag them back to safety with ropes.
“He bear hugged (Tonka) as they dragged him to the edge of the ice,” Judy said. “They did a marvelous job, just marvelous job.”
The chief said Tonka was “very cold and shaking, but otherwise seemed very healthy.”
He added firefighters had wrapped her in towels immediately and the Meyers were generous enough to insist they bring Tonka into their home to warm her up.
“They worked on her for a while and got her warmed up,” Judy said, adding Pausch, who had called in about her dog missing earlier that morning, showed up 20 minutes later after police called her.
“I truly believe in the power of prayer,” Pausch said Feb. 15. “I see the whole outcome as just a complete gift.”
Pausch had recently rescued Tonka, a very skinny, unsocialized, “backyard breeding dog” who lived in a rough area of Cleveland, she said.
“This smart dog watched people coming and going out the back door and was able to let herself out the back door and ran,” Pausch said, adding she sent out an alert on every social media and law enforcement network she could think of.
“The next morning I got a call that she was by the old Chester school playing around in the woods. She ran through the woods and ran straight to Shiloh Drive,” Pausch said. “So the next thing I know, I get a call from the sheriff’s office saying she’s in trouble, but they have her. They said she’s hypothermic right now, but they’re trying to resuscitate.”
Pausch, who knew the Meyers from living in the Chester area, said she walked in to see Bob on top of the dog trying to warm her up and she was in awe of all of the support.
“She thanked us, but I said, ‘Don’t thank me, thank these guys,’” Judy said, referring to the firefighters, who just happened to have recently trained in ice rescues.
“Fire and rescue was so awesome, you could tell they were elated to save this poor baby,” Pausch said, adding all the local vets were closed that day, so she brought Tonka back home and she and friends helped wrap her in hot blankets and were able to warm her back up.
“The support that the community has for animals … it really does work. The community support, the fire and rescue, God bless them for being willing to get out there,” Pausch said. “People coming together on behalf of an animal, it just makes you want to still have hope there are good people that do the right thing. I saw a lot more good than I even expected.”
Wargelin said the incident turned out to be “just a good coordinated effort between the guys,” the Meyers and the Chester Township Police Department, who was also on scene and assisted.
“It went really well, it was pretty textbook. Those can be tough and dangerous situations and the guys did a really good job,” the chief said. “You have a limited amount of time to get (the dog) out.”
