Dog Rescued After Spending 5 Days on the Ice of Lake Erie

Every winter there are stories all over the news about dogs that become stranded on the ice, but this story is a little different. After five days and a failed attempted rescue by the Coast Guard, this little dog is finally back home with her family.

Kimberly, a black lab-Rottweiler mix, somehow got herself onto the melting ice of Lake Erie, and people in the community began to notice her. She was running on a frozen chunk of ice miles away from the shoreline. One concerned Good Samaritan tried to lure the dog in by cooking hot dogs, and they even called in the Coast Guard to rescue her.

Local authorities forbid people from attempting to go out on the ice, because the spring thaw was making it unstable. After all attempts failed, one local news reporter, Mike O’Mara, took it upon himself to come up with a plan. An affiliate in Ohio sent an airboat to aid the rescue mission, and the rest is history.

O’Mara and a few other men boarded the airboat and went out onto the ice. When they got close to Kimberly she jumped in the boat with them and was returned to her owners. They say she went missing on March 15,2015 and O’Mara wasn’t able to rescue her until March 20.

Samantha’s biggest passion in life is spending time with her Boxer dogs. After she rescued her first Boxer in 2004, Samantha fell in love with the breed and has continued to rescue three other Boxers since then. She enjoys hiking and swimming with her Boxers, Maddie and Chloe.