SOUTH PARIS — Paris Assistant Fire Chief William “Willie” Buffington was out scouring the streets Monday evening in hopes of finding a lost dog that firefighters tried to rescue after the pooch decided to take a swim across the Little Androscoggin River.

“We don’t know who the dog belonged to. It had been running in and out of traffic,” Buffington said of the dog, which he described as a yellow Lab. “If it spends the night out, then it could freeze after being in the water.”

Buffington said that the fire department was called to area along the river behind Carquest Auto Parts at 45 Main St. around 5:30 p.m. to assist in rescuing the dog after the animal jumped into the river to escape an animal control officer who was trying to capture it. By the time crews arrived, he said that the dog had swum about 20 feet to ice on the other side of the river, where it climbed out and was last seen heading up the bank toward Pine Street.