Plea to dog owners after pup rescued from frozen lake in Braunstone Park, Leicester
Firefighters have pleaded with pet owners to keep their animals away from frozen water after another dog fell through ice.
A boxer-staffy puppy had a lucky escape when she tumbled through a frozen lake in Braunstone Park, Leicester, on Tuesday.
Roxy was 10 metres from the bank and clinging on to the ice when firefighters plunged into the freezing water and rescued the pup using an inflatable raft.
Technical rescue manager Chris Bilby, based at southern station, said: "It is disappointing that although we continue to send out messages to the public regarding the dangers of going on to areas of ice-covered water, individuals continue to disregard the risks."
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He said Roxy was being walked by a friend of her owner when she raced off across the ice, thinking it was solid ground.
Mr Bilby said: "Luckily, she was a strong little dog and able to keep her head above water and use her front legs to hold on to the ice and keep herself up. This is not always the case."
Technical rescue teams were forced to rescue another dog who fell through a lake in North Kilworth on Friday.
Also last week, they rescued two horses from the frozen Grand Union Canal in Loughborough and another horse from an icy swimming pool in Pickwell, near Melton.
Mr Bilby said: "Within the emergency services we never know when is going to be a busy time, but in wintry and icy conditions there has been an overall increase in calls about dogs in ice waters.
"It does start to divert our resources from some of the other calls.
"We do always manage to respond to all incidents, but it is an additional burden – and one that can so easily be avoided."
Meanwhile, gritters are continuing to treat roads around the clock in the city and county as the cold snap continues to bite.
Both the city and county councils are confident they have enough supplies to treat roads and pavements.
A Leicestershire County Council spokesman said, since Friday, the authority had used 4,000 tonnes of salt gritting roads across the county.
He said: "We are constantly monitoring our grit supplies to ensure we have enough grit to treat the roads and are ordering new supplies as necessary."
The city council said it had 1,100 tonnes of grit left which is sufficient for nine days of heavy snow, or 44 days of frost-gritting.
A spokeswoman said: "We have 1,000 tonnes on order, which is due to arrive next week."
Bin collections, however, are still being disrupted in rural areas and on side streets which have not been gritted.
Mercury weatherman Dave Mutton predicts the snow will disappear on Monday as milder air moves in from the Atlantic.
He said: "It will remain cold today and tomorrow with a chance of further snow on Friday."
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