Rescue redux: Pooch plucked twice from NY ice

[March 18, 2010]  WESTFIELD, N.Y. (AP) -- If Koozie the dog were a cat she would be down to seven lives. The 8-year-old mixed-breed pooch had to be rescued -- not once, but twice -- from the broken-up ice of Lake Erie off western New York.

Koozie wandered away from her owner's home outside Buffalo and was spotted Monday night about 30 miles away, trapped on the ice off Westfield.

An Erie County Sheriff's Department helicopter was summoned, but the rescue effort was put off until Tuesday morning, when a crew member was lowered in a basket and plucked Koozie from the ice.

After being brought to shore, the dog trotted back out onto the ice and had to be rescued a second time by the helicopter crew.

She was checked out by a veterinarian and returned to her owner.

[Associated Press]

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