On a frozen February morning in 2015, crew members at U.S. Coast Guard Station Frankfort in northern Michigan looked out at Betsie Bay and saw a Labrador struggling in the icy water near the Frankfort shipping channel. Within minutes a rescuer in a bright red ice-rescue suit was breaking his way through the floe ice towards the dog.
The Frankfort ice rescue, step by step
Petty Officer 1st Class Kurt Lubbers spotted the dog from inside the station after it went into the bay. The crew sounded the search-and-rescue alarm and alerted Coast Guard Sector Lake Michigan and Benzie County 911, then suited up.
- The swim: Petty Officer 3rd Class Tim Putnam, in full ice-rescue gear, swam about 200 feet to the Labrador. Broken ice slowed every metre, and the trip took around 20 minutes.
- The back-up: Petty Officer 1st Class Jeremy Morris entered the water to help Putnam guide the dog to a six-foot break wall, with a rope linking the rescuers to the shore team.
- The lift: Two civilians, Donald Ruff and Steve Brown, helped the crew haul Putnam, Morris and the dog up the wall. The whole operation took about 24 minutes.
Putnam later described the dog as “pretty shook up”. Senior Chief Petty Officer Robert Nendza, officer in charge of Station Frankfort, called it “a total team effort by the members of our station”.
Watch the Coast Guard video
The Coast Guard released footage of the rescue, filmed from shore and credited to the Oliver Art Center in Frankfort. It shows how much effort it takes simply to move through slush and plate ice, even in a buoyant, insulated suit.
A happy ending for the Labrador
Back at the station, the crew warmed the dog in the boathouse. It was then taken to the Animal Welfare League of Benzie County, where veterinarians found no major injuries, and the Coast Guard reported that it was reunited with its owner.
Why ice rescues need trained crews
Frankfort sits on the Lake Michigan shore in Benzie County, where Betsie Bay connects to the big lake through a channel lined by piers and break walls. In winter the bay fills with drifting ice, and the station keeps ice-rescue gear ready for exactly this kind of call. Their ice-rescue suits keep them dry and afloat, and a tether lets the shore team pull everyone back.
That is the lesson of the video. If a pet goes through the ice, call 911 straight away, keep the animal in sight and guide responders to the spot from solid ground. Pets and people who go after them are both safer when trained crews with suits and ropes make the entry.
For another Coast Guard animal rescue, read the Lake St. Clair dog story. For a different Canadian winter response, revisit the Pointe-Verte deer rescue.
Related reading
- Sylvie the Husky’s Ice Rescue: Sean P. Coyle Reaches the Dog
- An Icy-Water Dog Rescue: The Moment Help Arrives
- Navarre the Wolf: Rescue and Rehabilitation
- Zak Anderegg’s Canyon Dog Rescue
- Savor Every Moment: Keith Hopkin’s Film About Dogs
- Candide Thovex’s Skiing POV: Performance and the Art of the Edit
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