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By: Lauren Podell (clickondetroit.com)
Amy Sanchez and her fiancé Jim Grossman are like any parents, they love to gush about their son, Opus. The only difference is that Opus is a 10-year-old Husky.
“He’s my life, he’s my baby. He’s spoiled, and since we don’t have any children, he’s like our son,” Sanchez said.
“He’s also an escape artist,” Grossman added.
When Opus decided to go on an icy adventure Wednesday near their Orion Township home at midnight, the couple went in panic mode.
“We got in the car, we went on foot searching for him,” Sanchez said. “But Jim has an acute sense of direction and heard him whimpering on the lake behind our house.”
Opus had walked across the majority of Elkhorn Lake near Thistle Valley Drive and Wild Flower Court before falling into the ice and getting stuck.
“Your first thought is to go in and get him, but he was far enough away that I knew I needed to call public safety. And I am glad we did,” said Grossman.
That’s where Capt. Eric Florence, Capt. Daniel White and firefighter Dave Crabtree of The Orion Township Fire Department come in.
“As soon as we located the dog on the lake, Crabtree and White put on their cold water suits,” Florence said.
These pictures show how Captain White crawled across the ice, hooked up to a neon safety rope, and greeted a distraught pup.
“He was whimpering, he was crying,” said Sanchez. “The firefighters said he wasn’t in too much distress, but when I saw him half in the water and half out, I was really worried.”
But even without Opus’ favorite treats, it didn’t take much to get Opus to follow.
“I just grabbed his collar and helped pull his hind legs out of the water and he came with me willingly,” said White. “I think he was happy to see anyone, even someone wearing a red suit.”
