March 7, 2007
By Gabriela Resto-Montero
Denver Post
The geese were just too tempting. After seeing a savory-looking gaggle on her morning walk, Pearl, a black Labrador, chased after them onto Sloan's Lake and ended up in cold - very cold-water Tuesday.
Photo: Wanda Padilla hugs her black Lab, Pearl, after the dog, tempted by geese, fell through the ice of Sloan's Lake and was rescued by a firefighter. The rescue, broadcast nationwide, netted Pearl treats from the "Today" show. (Post / Cyrus McCrimmon)
Hearing her dog's cries as Pearl broke through thin ice and sank into 32-degree water, Wanda Padilla of Denver ran out to try to save her.
"I thought maybe I could throw a rope," Padilla said.
Padilla realized the ice couldn't hold her, so she scrambled back to safety and borrowed a passer-by's cellphone to call the Fire Department.
"The man who walked out had a helmet on and flippers, and Pearl was afraid of him because he looked like a frog man," Padilla said. But Pearl warmed up to the frog man after the ice shelf that had supported her gave way.
"She growled at me a little bit," said Tony Padilla (no relation to Wanda Padilla), Pearl's rescuer and a technician with the Denver Fire Department Dive Team. "But once I grabbed her, I could feel the dog relax."
Pearl's rescue was caught on video and broadcast nationwide. Her celebrity got the dog free biscuits from the "Today" show, Wanda Padilla said.
