Firefighters save dog’s life after it falls into South Saskatchewan River

Jim Phillips is praising the Saskatoon firefighters who rescued his dog after it fell into the South Saskatchewan River.

Phillips was spending the afternoon with his two dogs, Abbie and Isla, near the Sutherland Dog Park. Before he knew it, Isla started wandering closer to the river and quickly became involved in a dangerous situation.

Isla hopped onto an ice shelf and fell right into the water.

“She was in the water, (and) she had her paws up on the edge of the ice but she couldn’t get back up,” Phillips said.

“I felt terrible, but I knew I couldn’t go out on the ice myself. Literally, at that point, I was prepared to watch my dog drown.”

Phillips called 9-1-1 for emergency services as he waited patiently for help to arrive.

After Isla had battled the cold elements for roughly 45 minutes, a crew of firefighters arrived on the scene.

The 45-minute period felt like an eternity for Phillips.

“I’m just standing there watching her fighting for her life, calling to her to keep her motivated,” he said. “It’s all I could do.”

The firefighters took a rescue boat out on the water and rescued Isla.

Phillips couldn’t believe his young dog survived in the frigid conditions as long as she did.

“I was amazed at how much endurance she had to swim that long,” he said.

“I was so thankful (this) exists in our society, this sort of infrastructure of caring (and) the ability to call on someone in a situation like that.”