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North Plainfield Police Department

Press Release

Chief William Parenti

Press Release of January 24, 2014

Chief William Parenti announced the rescue of a dog at Green Acres Park on Thursday, January 24, 2014 at 1:07pm.  North Plainfield Resident Jane Helck age 28 called the Police to report her dog trapped in the pond.   The dog owner stated that her dog 'Jackson' ran after the ducks and fell into the semi-frozen pond.  Sandy Schenck and Jeff Sneddon from the Plainfield Humane Society responded also responded.  However, the dog was about 20-25 feet from the shore and out of reach to all those responding.  North Plainfield Police Officer Albert Domizi tried to walk out but the ice cracked under his feet.  A call went out to the Fire Department for a boat or ladder to help get to the animal, but as luck would have it, a structure fire came in at the same time and they were unable to respond. 

Quick thinking officers called the Director of the Department of Public Works Mr. Jim Rodino and his foreman, Angelo Costello.   As we have come to expect, they dropped what they were doing responded with a ladder moments later.  It took the efforts of all people working together to get the ladder extended and as close to the animal as possible.  Luck still working against the rescue effort, the ladder was still about 6 feet short.   Jeff Sneddon braved the climb onto the ladder and he and an Sergeant Russell Flynn threw a rope to the dog.  The teams luck changed and the dog moved a little closer and Jeff was able to grab him by the neck and carry him out to safety.  Chief Parenti thanked all those involved as I doubt the dog could have held on much longer.  He was in the water holding on to the thin ice for over 30 minutes with an air temperature of 8 degrees.