A team of specialist maritime rescuers travelled hundreds of kilometres across Poland to save a puppy that had spent almost a week stuck on a small island in the middle of a river after it flooded.
The eight-month-old dog – whom the rescuers have named Ryszard – last week escaped along with seven of his siblings from a property near the Bug River in the village of Kuligów in central Poland, reports the Judyta Puppy Foundation, a local animal welfare group.
After an ice jam on the river suddenly broke up, all of the dogs were able to swim to the shore apart from Ryszard, who remained stuck on a small, flooded island. Many areas around the Bug saw their worst flooding in over a decade last week.
Firefighters attempted to rescue the dog, but conditions in the river – with strong currents, fast-flowing water, ice and other debris – prevented them from doing so. Meanwhile, the dog – hungry, tired and cold – was howling for help on the island.
A river rescue team from the nearby city of Legionowo arrived, but deemed the risk to their lives from attempting a rescue in the difficult conditions too high.
Kuligów nad Bugiem! Od poniedziałku pies uwięziony na środku rzeki. Wyje, wręcz błaga. Parę nieudanych prób, aż służby odmawiają pomocy. 112 nie odpowiada na prośby, staje się głuche na prośby mieszkańców. Sytuacja opisana w internecie. Do akcji ruszają ratownicy (jadą setki… pic.twitter.com/0RQrrQlQTI
— Remiza.pl 🇵🇱 (@remizacompl) February 3, 2024
Finally, five days after the dog had first got stuck, a sea rescue team from Kołobrzeg, a city on Poland’s northern Baltic coast, arrived, having travelled 700km to Kuligów. They managed to successfully rescue Ryszard.
The dog and his siblings are now under the care of the foundation, which has posted video updates on Ryszard’s recovery, which is going well.
“It was worth doing the 1,400 km [roundtrip],” said one of the rescues, Paweł Depta, on social media.
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Main image credit: KluskaSebastian/X
Daniel Tilles is editor-in-chief of Notes from Poland. He has written on Polish affairs for a wide range of publications, including Foreign Policy, POLITICO Europe, EUobserver and Dziennik Gazeta Prawna.
