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Posted: Wednesday, 01 July 2009 3:50PM
Blind dog rescued from north suburban lake
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ANTIOCH, Ill. (STNG) -- Old Ralph was one waterlogged Labrador retriever after being the focus of one of the odder rescues by the Lake County Sheriff's Marine Patrol on Bluff Lake, where the old, blind dog was lost in the middle of the lake.
"It was reported that the dog was out there for two hours swimming in circles," said Lt. Bert Foster, who is in charge of the marine unit. He said boater Gordon Contine was on a pontoon boat in the far north suburban lake when he noticed the Lab and called the marine unit.
Foster sent Ken Fligelman and Jim Carter, two retired Chicago police officers working for the marine unit, to check it out. It was almost 11 a.m. on June 25.
"They strapped a life vest onto the dog and a rope and then led it to shore," said Foster.
They were able to find the owners, Marjorie and John Krutsch, through the Animal Care Center of Lake Villa. Marjorie had been looking for Ralph.
"I was so thrilled when they called. He's 13 and a half and can't see and can barely hear," she said.
"I was outside gardening when I looked up and he was gone. I called and started driving around. I was just panic stricken."
When Ralph was younger, he would jump into the water off the seawall in front of the Krutsches' house in Antioch and retrieve rocks from the lake bed. Now, he occasionally goes down to the water, but "he uses his tail to feel the seawall," Krutsch said.
She thinks Ralph might have wandered to a neighbor's house, got in the water and then become confused and started swimming.
"I was so thrilled to see him," Krutsch said Tuesday.
Ralph was a little worn out from his ordeal. "The poor thing laid around for two days," she said, adding that he's fully recovered now.
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Copyright 2009 STNG Wire, The Chicago Sun-Times. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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