He’d been out there for more than 24 hours 🥶
It was early Sunday morning when two fishermen set out on the Detroit River in a small motorboat, cutting through the bitter cold. As they moved along the water, something caught their eye near a culvert — a white figure moving slowly through ice and shallow water, almost ghostlike against the frozen landscape.
Curious, they steered closer. What they had mistaken for a wolf turned out to be a dog, stranded and struggling to reach dry ground.
Getting the boat close enough to help was out of the question. Strong winds and a row of concrete pillars made it impossible to maneuver. One of the men called his wife, who quickly got in touch with The KARENS, an emergency outreach organization dedicated to rescuing dogs in crisis.
“Within about an hour and a half, we had ladders loaded up and were heading to the scene,” said Chantal Rzewnicki, cofounder of The KARENS. “We found the location — and then hit a wall. We simply couldn’t get in.”
The dog, who would later be named Gordie, was perched on a large chunk of ice, hemmed in on all sides by concrete walls nearly twelve feet high.
“My guess is he jumped down when everything was still frozen solid,” Rzewnicki said.
Despite every effort, The KARENS couldn’t pull him out on their own. Rzewnicki contacted Michigan Humane and the local fire department. By the following morning, a full rescue team was on site.
In six-degree Fahrenheit temperatures, Michigan Humane team members suited up in wetsuits and descended a ladder into the icy culvert below.
“Gordie was scared and on edge,” said Lish Dorset, Michigan Humane’s director of marketing and communications. “We believe he had been trapped in that water for at least a full day.”
Wading through freezing water, the team worked their way to Gordie and brought him up using a catch pole.
“He was starving,” Rzewnicki said. “And hypothermic.”
Gordie was rushed to Michigan Humane, where he remained subdued but aware as veterinarians looked him over. Remarkably, he had no physical injuries. Even more surprising — vets estimated him to be around eight years old, leaving Rzewnicki to wonder whether he had spent most of his life on the streets or had only recently lost his home.
Regardless, Gordie is in safe hands now. In the days since his rescue, he’s been sleeping on warm blankets, eating well, and getting acquainted with other dogs at the facility.
“He’s doing great,” Rzewnicki said. “He’s eating. He’s warm. No aggression at all.”
With any luck, Gordie’s next chapter will include a permanent home — somewhere far from frozen rivers and concrete walls.