Rescuers Save Dog from Freezing River Before Realizing It Is a Wolf
Timothy Roberts
You never know what the day will hold when you wake up in the morning. Some days are normal, but other days, you may just have the chance to be a hero.
When contractors were working on a dam near Pärnu, Estonia, they saw something unexpected. It was a dog struggling to stay alive in a frozen river.
The men worked feverishly to save the dog from freezing to death. In order to reach the canine, they had to clear a path through the ice.
When they were successful, they wrapped the dog in a towel and took him back to the car to check on him further. After contacting animal rescue services, they were told to take him to a nearby medical center.
Imagine their surprise when they took this dog they had just rescued from the river into the medical center and found out they had actually rescued a wolf!
Rando Kartsepp was one of the rescuers who saved the animal that day, and he spoke with a local news outlet. He said: "We had to carry him over the slope. He weighed a fair bit. He was calm, slept on my legs. When I wanted to stretch them, he raised his head for a moment."
A local hunter said the wolf was only about a year old. Despite being wild, he was docile, which is probably because his blood pressure had dropped due to the freezing cold water.
There was some concern that he might get aggressive after he regained his composure, so they temporarily put him in a cage.
When the next morning arrived, the wolf was doing much better so they released him into the wild. They also attached a radio tracker so he could be tracked by the National Environmental Agency.
An Estonian Union for the Protection of Animals (EUPA) spokesman said they were very happy with how things turned out. They were thankful that the men who rescued the wolf and the doctors worked hard to ensure that the wild animal was well cared for.
It is not uncommon to see wolves in Estonia, but they tend to avoid humans whenever possible. You are more likely to see them in a zoo than in the wild.
