I can understand the plights of both lakeshore residents and the fire department. I've been associated with our local fire department now for over 35 years and understand decisions that risk a members life over an animal. However, as a former forest and park supervisor for the state of MA this same type of incident seemed to happen every winter. I managed a four state park complex with three of them having bodies of water large enough for boating/swimming. Every year it seemed a dog or a deer would head out on the ice. Most times, we did end up calling fire rescue units as nearly 90% of the time people (shoreline residents or park visitors would try to risk their necks heading out to save the floundering deer or dog) So rather than have the person fall through we'd give the fire dept a call to assist with the rescue of the animal. I've seen more people fall in and either drown or nearly drown trying to rescue the animal or pet. My last deer on ice call was on a 700 acre lake where two boys in their early teens with ropes went out on about two inches of ice to rescue a downed and struggling deer. Residents called both the park and Fire dept who helped assist all three off the ice. We took the deer to the Tufts Wildlife center in Grafton, MA but like this deer in the article it did not survive. They told us human handling and splayed legs from the ice usually are the deer's downfall after rescue. I would not recommend a person going out on the ice to rescue your pet or an animal without proper clothing, ropes and training. It's a tough decision but saftey should be utmost on the mind in this situation.
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Lin
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