POLAND – Rescuers saved a dog Monday afternoon after it fell through the ice on Lower Range Pond and spent about 40 minutes in deep water.

The dog’s owner, who was not with the dog at the time, was also pulled from the pond after attempting to rescue the pet in a kayak.

“Usually people won’t make the attempt to go out there,” Chief Mark Bosse of Poland Fire Rescue said.

Bosse did not have the dog owner’s name.

The dog was a 9-year-old collie mix. It was treated for mild hypothermia and released to the owner, according to a Poland Animal Hospital worker who would not identify the owner. A full recovery for the dog is expected.

The incident was reported around 3:50 p.m. near 13 Old Plains Road, about a mile from the fire station. Bosse said the dog’s owner knelt in a kayak and pulled the boat along the ice. The kayak broke through the ice before it reached the dog, and Bosse advised the owner to stay put.

Responders donned cold water rescue suits, which can also aid flotation, and stayed low to the ice. Bosse said the ice gave way as they got close to the dog, but they were able to break through the rest of the ice and pull the dog to safety.

Rescuers also pulled the kayak back onto the ice and brought the owner, who was uninjured, to shore.

Bosse said the dog was in subfreezing water over 50 feet from shore in water more than 10 feet deep. The dog was taken to Poland Animal Hospital and was expected to recover.

“It could have been a lot worse,” Bosse said.

In addition to Poland Fire Rescue, responders from Oxford Fire and Rescue and the Androscoggin County Sheriff’s Office assisted at the scene. The Maine Warden Service was notified but later called off.

Bosse advised people in a similar situation to immediately notify emergency services and only try to help a person or animal in the water if they can be reached with a stick, rope, or other device. He also said that if a person or animal becomes submerged, one should note the spot they went under to assist rescuers.

Air temperatures have exceeded freezing in recent days, and Bosse said the ice on ponds is not safe.