Boating couple help rescue dog stuck in Brayford

A couple on a boating trip in Lincoln helped to rescue a struggling and freezing cold dog from Brayford Pool at the weekend.

A crew from Saxilby and a water rescue team from Gainsborough Fire Station attended reports of a dog, believed to be a Terrier, in the water on Saturday, May 15.

Esli Richards and his fiancée Victoria Hayes were visiting Lincoln from Northampton for the weekend, staying in one of the Sealine yachts at Burton Waters Boat Sales.

The dog was trapped and had to be rescued. | Photo: Victoria Hayes

The couple decided to hire ‘The Imp’ boat on Saturday, which was named by The Lincolnite readers in March, and they decided to stop for lunch at the The Pyewipe Inn.

They were going to turn around and go back, but decided to venture on and are glad they did. As they got close to Wagamama at around 2pm they noticed something in the middle of the water that was moving and soon realised it was a dog.

Lincolnshire Fire & Rescue, police and a water rescue team were on the bank so Esli and Victoria offered to take them across on the boat.

The dog was freezing cold after being rescued and was taken ashore to safety. | Photo: Victoria Hayes

A man from Lincolnshire Fire & Rescue went on the boat with them and managed to hook the boat onto the nearby shrubs before jumping across. He untangled the dog, whose lead was caught in the shrubs and debris in the water.

The dog was taken back ashore and the emergency services/rescue team took her away to be checked over and to try and trace the owners.

Emergency services helped to get the dog ashore to safety, where she was checked over and fortunately uninjured. | Photo: Victoria Hayes

Esli told The Lincolnite: “We feel really happy as we’ve got dogs ourselves and wanted to help. After stopping at the pub, we then got into Lincoln and were going to turn around, but we kept going and are glad we did.

“It was our first visit to Lincoln and we’ll definitely come back again. The people are lovely and Burton Waters (Boat Sales) are fabulous.”

This wasn’t the only animal rescue in Lincoln over the weekend as a horse and deer were also saved, while Lincolnshire Fire & Rescue and the RSPCA also helped a pigeon in Boston.