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Wellesley emergency crews rescue Crosby the Retriever from Charles River

Wellesley Police Web News Update: Dog Rescued From Icy Charles River


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Comments

Nice work, and great practice for rescuing a person in a similar situation.

And before people start grousing about "wasting emergency responders' time on a dog," etc... there was no waste of time involved... the police and fire staff were already on the clock; had a more serious call involving a threat to human life come in, they could have been pulled off this job and dispatched to the more pressing emergency.

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They often end up rescuing people who will go in after their dogs.

Nice work!

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Which actually happened in Natick, on Friday I believe. Two dogs and a person.

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But the owner seems grossly irresponsible. No excuse not to have your dog under control in that environment.

They should be cited for leash law violation

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Really?

Take a look at a map of where the Charles goes through Wellesley (kayaking isn't much of an option right now). It isn't like it is in Boston, where you have parks along the bank. Property lines go right up to the river, even if buildings are set back to account for flood plains.

I don't know about this specific dog, but it is entirely possible that he got into the river without even crossing a public anything.

Leash laws don't apply on private property. Not all towns have them, or apply them to all areas, either.

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Then that means they are even more negligent! If their property borders the river, then they are well aware of the danger and should have taken extra precautions to keep their precious fur baby out of the water.

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These dogs are designed for cold water work. This dog might have been okay if provided a way to get out over the ice.

I hope you don't have kids. You probably leash and bubble wrap them.

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Dog sure doesn't look OK. And it wasn't OK because it could not get past the ice. That's the point. The owner let the dog get itself into a very unsafe situation.
We wouldn';t be talking about this if the dog were merely in cold water b/c it would have been fine.

Thank god there wasn't a major car accident or bomb scare in Wellesley yesterday.

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thank you very much. I don't bubble wrap nor leash them, but I since I care deeply about their well being, I make sure to keep them out of icy bodies of water.

You can feel free to act like an idiot and let your fur baby drown. You can always pick up a new one down at Angel Memorial.

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Gosh. What on earth would become of our civilization, if we didn't have brave people like you meting out the appropriate level of judgement and scorn. There's always someone we can blame for bad things, isn't there? And thankfully we have you to help guide us, brave commissar.

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Period. Fenced in if necessary. But we're not talking about my dog. The dog and owner in question were at the Elm Bank Reservation which is not a residence and which is actually surrounded on 3 sides by the Charles. It's also a spot used for dog walking, leashes required.

Points for your attempt at spin without the facts though.

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Where in the DCR webpage does it say that? Someone below commented that leashes were not required.

Also, if it is leash law area, is it enforced? How many people have been ticketed in the past year?

The area is well known for off-leash, good or bad.

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Generally, the rule on DCR land is that a leash is required in the Boston area and not required outside. I'm not sure exactly what constitutes the "Boston area" though. I know they had proposed rules that would change it to a leash being required on all DCR land, but I think that's still just "proposed".

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This situation probably could have been avoided had the dog been walked on a leash. Hope the owner was cited.

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Wow, another dog that managed to slip its leash!

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Are getting smarter? so many of them have learned to slip their leash. It's uncanny. Or are the owners becoming more stupid and obnoxious?

I'd like to see an aggressive campaign against this, cleaning up after your dog, and such things as littering:

1st offense would require educational training on the issue and a day's service related to the viloation.

2nd offense would be $1000 fine.

3rd offense would be $10,000 and order to stay away from dogs. No pets could be owned.

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I'll support your proposed $10,000 fine for leash law violations if you'll support $10,000 for parking overtime at a meter. Deal?

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Starting the day parked cars bark at or menace people, shit and don't get it cleaned up, or otherwise endanger or aggrovate humans.

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Just because everyone is breaking the rule doesn't mean the rule doesn't exist. You'd think the Arboretum was a leash free dog park if you were to walk through and leashes are clearly required there.

http://www.masshort.org/MHS-Gardens

"Garden Etiquette

The following guidelines apply:

No plant material will be taken from the MassHort Elm Bank property without written consent from the Society;
For the health, safety and welfare of all, dogs must be leashed and owners must clean up after them. Dogs are not allowed inside any garden areas;
No balls, frisbees or Kites allowed in gardens;
Stay on trails or lawn;
No alcoholic beverages are allowed;
No radios are allowed;
Do not feed or take wildlife from MassHort ponds, gardens or natural areas;
Bikes, rollerblades, scooters or any wheeled recreational device are only allowed on the main paved pathways and are not allowed in any garden areas.
We thank you for being an active part of the MassHort mission."

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"Guidelines" are not rules or regulations.

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Off-leash is legal at Elm Bank.

Fines are irrelevant.

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I'm skeptical that this is a legally defined off-leash location but regardless the owner should have had dog restrained, even if it's private proerty.

It's a retriever for heaven's sake. And did you see the ice? Have you felt the weather? Inexusable to allow a dog onto that ice yesterday.

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You have to know your dog and its limits. My dog is not overly bright, and is easily distracted. I don't let her off-leash even in parks where that's allowed unless it's securely fenced on all sides and I can see her at all times. She'd take off after a leaf blowing past her and would be halfway to the Berkshires before she realized I wasn't right behind her.

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I guess that makes the water less frigid??

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This area of water is adjacent to yards. Sorry, nice try.

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The dog that almost drowned and needed a full blown emergency response to be saved.

Although the Elm Reservation, where this dog seems to have been, is in fact public property the truth js you can do just about anything you want on private property. God bless America and I'm truly thankful.

What you should do on any property is a much shorter list. And if your activities caused a 911 call and response you might want to rethink your behavior.

Or, fuck it, there's no signs so let lil Crosby run on the thin ice. I do what I want.

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People ski. They break their legs. They need emergency services. Breaking one's leg is an entirely foreseeable consequence of skiing. People drive cars. They get in accidents, requiring an emergency response. Getting in accidents is an entirely foreseeable consequence of driving a car. People let their dogs off leash. Dogs get in trouble, requiring emergency response. Dogs getting in trouble is an entirely predictable consequence of letting dogs off leashes.

The people who broke their legs could have avoided the entire problem had they simply refrained from skiing.
The people getting in car accidents could have avoided the entire problem had they simply refrained from driving.
And the people whose dogs got in trouble could have avoided the entire problem had they simply refrained from letting their dogs loose.

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You're a lot safer in a car if you wear a seat belt. A dog on a walk is a lot safer if she's on a leash. Simple precautions can save a lot of heartache and trauma if one has enough sense to use them.

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You're a lot safer at a ski area if you stay in the base lodge. Simple precautions can save a lot of heartache and trauma if one has enough sense to use them.

My point? Driving a car, skiing, and letting a dog do what dogs were meant to do (e.g., run) all have benefits, and they all come with risks.

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Nice job by Wellesley 9-1-1personnel, from the call takers, to the poiice and fire officers on scene. And nice job promoting the positive work of the departments. Well done on the video, and narration too.

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All DCR properties require dogs to be on a leash except for a select few which have some off-leash areas. Elm Bank is not one of them and leash rules are posted. Further, even leased dogs are prohibited from the Mass Hort gardens.

I am a leash-law abiding owner of 2 dogs and am sick of the scofflaws ruining it for the rest of us. I'm also sick of getting rushed but out-of-control, illegally off leashed dogs.

Unless this owner was on private property, she should absolutely be cited for the dog being off leash. And she should pay the cost of the FD rescue as well!

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