Dog Stranded On The Ice on Lake Erie

Euclid, OH – A dog is stranded on a chunk of ice floating on Lake Erie. Police officers, firefighters, and animal control staffers have tirelessly been trying to rescue the 10-year-old German shepherd named Maya. The efforts have so far been unsuccessful, but owner Randy Carter is not giving up hope that his beloved dog will be rescued.

Maya was separated from her owner on Thursday evening, the Cleveland Plain Dealer reports. Carter had this to say about his dog getting stranded on a Lake Erie ice floe:

“She was moving and police said the ice itself was moving east when I last saw her. I want to believe she found a path back to shore. I’ll be looking for her. It’s unusual, she’s a homebody. She only got away once before and she came home.”

Maya got loose when the wind blew the gate of Randy Carter’s Vine Street home open. The German shepherd is believed to have walked onto Lake Erie from East 260th Street. Somehow the dog wandered onto the ice and became stranded.

Euclid Animal Control Officer Ann Mills had this to say about the dog stuck on the ice on Lake Erie:

“We saw her out there, about 100 yards off the shore. There was weak ice in between us and her, even water. We did everything we could. I didn’t know what else to do to get her back.”

Police officers and animal control staffers tried to tempt Maya to make her way to shore by dangling meat. At one point, the stranded dog came halfway back to land before getting spooked and running further onto the ice.

Carter vowed to keep searching the beach areas for Maya. The Coast Guard instructed rescuers to say off ice because it could not hold the weight of humans, NewsNet5 notes. All involved are hoping that the dog stranded on the ice on Lake Erie managed to hop onto other floating pieces and get back onto land somewhere in the area.

[Image Via: NOAA/Coast Watch]