Dog rescued from icy pond near St. Charles

A dog should give a wag of thanks to the rescuers who pulled it out of an icy pond Monday near St. Charles.

Firefighters from the Fox River and Countryside Fire Rescue District responded at 7:34 a.m. to calls of a dog in distress in a pond behind a house in the 36W400 block of Hunters Gate Road. Neighbors had heard the dog barking and found it, with its head sticking out of the water, according to Deputy Chief Jim Miesel.

A firefighter wearing an exposure suit with flotation capability crawled out on the ice and lifted the dog out. Other firefighters then dragged them back to shore.

The dog, which appears to be a husky, was taken to an emergency veterinary hospital in Elgin. The Kane County Sheriff’s Office is trying to find the owner, he said. It was not wearing a collar, but was microchipped, he said.

Miesel said the neighbors did not recognize the dog, but had doorbell camera footage that indicated it may have been walking around the neighborhood around 5 a.m.

“It’s amazing he’s alive,” Miesel said.