Dog stuck in river saved by wading rescuer

The dog had run through an embankment fence

An RNLI volunteer waded through the River Tees to save a dog trapped in the water.

The Boston terrier went into the river close to the Teessaurus dinosaur park in Middlesbrough early on Thursday evening.

It had run through an embankment fence and was unable to get back up the riverbank.

The RNLI official said the dog’s owner did the right thing by not attempting to save the animal themselves and by calling 999.

Redcar's Atlantic 85 lifeboat Leicester Challenge III arrived on the scene within an hour and a crew member waded to the shore and brought the dog back to the boat.

Derek Sutton, Helm on the Atlantic 85 said: "Once we had the dog safely on board the lifeboat, we wrapped it up in a survival blanket to keep it warm.

"I decided that the best course of action was to return the dog to the lifeboat station at Redcar where it could be reunited with its owner."

Mike Picknett, lifeboat operations manager at Redcar RNLI, said: “Our advice to dog walkers is to keep your dog on a lead when walking close to the water’s edge and not to go into the water or mud after them if they get stuck.”