Man rescues pooch submerged in icy Pouch Cove pond

Shane Richards didn't think twice when he came across a lost dog stuck in a half-frozen pond in Pouch Cove on Saturday.

Richards and his fiance, Melissa French, were on an ATV, checking out ice conditions on a few different pondswhen they saw a black and beige pooch submerged in the middle of Old Pond.

He pulled his bike closer to the edge of the pond and took the rope of the ATV'swinch with him.

"It broke my heart, really," he said. "I don't know what I thought, but I knew I had to get him out."

Richards laid down on the ice next to the dog, reached down and pulled him up. After carrying him back to the shore, the couple took their coats off and wrapped the dog in them. They cuddled into him for warmth.

"He was at the pointhe was giving up," Richards said."He wasn't struggling when we got there. He was just holding his head up out of the water."

After warming him up and calming him down, they put him on the ATV and drove him out of the woods and to a waiting truck. When they got back to their home in Bauline, they laid him down next to their woodstove.

"I had to carry him everywhere," Richards said. "He couldn't even stand up. I guess the cold was after getting to him so much, he had no strength left."

After a while, the dog began to come around and Richards and French hada new challenge finding the owner.

They were just ecstatic to get him back.- Shane Richards

When they pulled him from the water, the dog had the remnants of a leash around his neck. It seemed he had broken free and run away.

The couple posted pictures of him on Facebook. As it turns out, it's not hard to identify a missing dog in Bauline.

Within a half-hour, Richards was on the phone with the owners, who said the dog's name is Wolf.

"On the phone it sounded like they were crying and everything," he said. "They were just ecstatic to get him back."

Richards says he was just in the right place at the right time and was relieved to be able to help get Wolf home safely.