UPS Driver Braves Frozen Pond To Rescue Dog

UPS guys are either our heroes or the bane of our existence, depending on whether or not our parcels from our online shopping expeditions are delivered on time, somehow manage to get “lost in the mail,” or just leave notes to say no one was home without ringing a doorbell.

One driver in particular, however, certainly deserves the “hero” tag for his actions. Out delivering parcels in Bozeman, Montana, shortly before Christmas, Ryan Arens could hear a dog somewhere nearby crying, according to USA Today.

Given that the daylight had already all but disappeared, Arens couldn’t figure out where the dog’s cries were coming from. He delivered the parcel to the next home on his route, and realized the next parcel he needed to deliver was on the other side of a frozen pond nearby. As he drove around the pond he discovered where the dog was, and immediately understood why it was crying out in distress.

The dog, a wire-haired pointing griffon, was inside the freezing water in the middle of the pond, trapped by the ice.

“I could see the dog trapped about 10-15 feet off of shore, with ice all around it,” he said.

While there was an elderly gentleman trying to reach the dog in a small rowboat, he wasn’t going to reach the poor pup on time. Instead, Arens sprang into action.

“I stripped to my boxers and got the guy out of the boat. Then, I slid the boat out onto the ice, using it to distribute my weight,” Arens said. “I shimmed out to where the ice was thin.”

Once he reached the thin ice, he crashed right through it, plunging into the freezing water as he fell off the boat. Deciding there was little point in trying to get back into the boat since he was already soaked through, he swam to where the dog was.

Grabbing the pooch’s collar, he pulled her towards the ice, pushing her up onto it and sliding her towards safety. As the pair of them got out of the water, they were handed a blanket, and the elderly gentleman who had been trying to rescue the dog invited them into his home to get warm again.

“We took the dog inside the older guy’s house and got in the shower together to warm up,” he said.

That wasn’t even the end of the hero’s day. He still had another 20 packages to deliver that night, and because it was right before Christmas he wasn’t going to let people go without their deliveries.

As luck would have it, the dog, whose name is Sadie, had a parcel set to be delivered to her owner’s house around Christmas as well. When she saw her rescuer again, she was understandably delighted.

“She was freaking out, and when he let her out she ran to me. She must have remembered me. It sure made me feel good. This dog had a whole lot of life left in her, and I’m really glad I was able to act when I did. She’s a sweetheart.”

For Arens, he didn’t have to think twice before endangering his own life by getting involved in the situation to rescue the precious Sadie.

“Animals are my weakness,” he explained. “It was the highlight of my 14-year UPS career.”