Max’s whereabouts and length of attempt to escape are unknown, but one thing was certain: If he wasn’t hauled out of there, he wouldn’t see the sun again.
He was fortunate that a ship’s crew noticed him and persisted in trying to save him.
Max would have a fascinating tale to tell if canines could talk after leading a spectacular rescue on Michigan’s Lake Muskegon.
The Barbara Andrie’s crew had been at sea all day. They got up early to set sail for the nearby port of Milwaukee, and while they were returning about 8 p.m., they heard something they hadn’t expected to hear in the middle of the immense lake’s ice waters: a bark.
A dog was pleading for assistance there, in the gap between the ice and the water. Nobody knew how long the animal had been stranded or how it had gotten there, but it was clear that it would not survive if it was not saved.
Wellington replied, “I have to confess, my heart almost stopped.” At first, “I almost believed I ran him over.” But when he turned around, the dog was still perched precariously in the air.
The crew was excited to dock Andrie in Muskegon so they could take a break after working nonstop since six in the morning. However, they had a rescue mission to complete first.
“We’re going to find him without a doubt. He wouldn’t be left outside by us. There is no chance. He was going to be captured, the ship’s captain declared.
He carefully avoided disturbing the delicate ice surrounding the stranded dog as he slowly retracted the large ship. Craig Benedetti continued, “He was out there in the middle of the lake.” “I don’t know if he would have made it through the entire night.”
When they were close enough, the crew members delicately hooked the ice floe with a pole that had a hook on the end and pulled it in the direction of the tug. The dog briefly fell through the ice and into the lake, but was managed to climb back up to its perch, according to Wellington.
You could see that he was frightened and chilly, and he had no idea what to do or where to go, according to Wellington. He was standing on a small bit of ice that could support him, which was, in all honesty, the best he could manage.
The crew ultimately managed to wrap a rope around the puppy’s neck and pull it up after about 20 minutes.
Max was extremely appreciative. The puppy was starving and nearly freezing, yet it nevertheless licked its rescuers in appreciation. After successfully rescuing the animal, the men grinned as they fed him and covered him with all the blankets they could find.
When the dog’s temperature returned to normal and it had finished eating, the crew looked at its collar and discovered the owner’s phone number. The owner had misplaced the dog 36 hours earlier and had posted multiple times on Facebook asking for help in finding it.
When Max’s owners learned of the rescue, Wellington added, “I think they were a bit astonished.”
Max made it back home, and his owners are extremely appreciative to the crew of the Barbara Andrie for putting aside their tiredness and putting their lives in danger to save their pet.
Max is one fortunate dog.
