MURFREESBORO, Tenn. — A Middle Tennessee woman acted quickly when her dog fell into her frozen swimming pool, jumping into the icy water to save her pet.
“It was pure adrenaline. I was not thinking about being cold,” Murfreesboro resident Jennie Tatum told WTVF.
Tatum was on the back porch of her home while her two dogs were running around the pool, WZTV reported.
One of the dogs, a pit bull named Sid, slipped and broke through the top layer of ice in the pool, the television station reported.
Home security footage showed what happened next.
Tatum ran to the side of the pool and jumped in, breaking through 2-inch ice, but at first, was unable to find the dog, WTVF reported.
The pet owner got out of the pool to get a better look.
“I knew he went in there, so I get up and see him from above,” Tatum told WTVF.
By this time, the dog had been underwater for nearly a minute. Tatum found Sid and was able to hoist the 50-pound, barely conscious animal out of the pool, WSMV reported.
CAUGHT ON CAMERA: A woman saved her dog after it fell through the ice on top of a pool in the Midstate. See the video and learn about the dog's condition. https://t.co/pVvGF1aWH0 pic.twitter.com/1LrM2lXhOt
— WSMV News4 Nashville (@WSMV) February 22, 2021
She immediately wrapped up the dog and called April Smith, her neighbor and a veterinarian, the television station reported.
“I don’t think this dog had another minute based on his symptoms,” Smith told WTVF.
The vet administered an emergency shot, WSMV reported.
“She said, ‘If we wouldn’t have given him that, I don’t think he would’ve made it,’” Tatum told the television station. “His lips were blue, and his tongue was blue.”
Tatum and her husband drove Sid to an animal hospital, WZTV reported.
Tatum said her pool pump broke a week before winter storms hit Tennessee, the television station reported. Had the pump been working, the water would not have frozen over, she said.
Tatum added that the pool never had a cover over it, WZTV reported.
Tatum said she never hesitated when the dog fell into the water.
“He’s extra special, but I would’ve done it for anybody, any animal,” Tatum told WSMV. “They’re like our family.”
As for Sid, he is fully recovered and now avoids the pool, according to WTVF.
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