A routine morning at a Rhode Island country club turned into a desperate race against time when a police lieutenant plunged into freezing, ice-covered water to save a struggling dog, one of several harrowing encounters involving pets and their owners that unfolded across the country in the days surrounding Christmas.
In Portsmouth, Rhode Island, Lieutenant Khatu Khubchandani of the Portsmouth Police Department responded to a report shortly after 8 a.m. involving a dog trapped in a small pond at the Montaup Country Club.
The body of water was partially frozen and filled with thick mud, creating dangerous conditions for both the animal and anyone attempting a rescue.
Police said the dog, described as an older black female, had slipped away from her owner and ended up stuck in the icy pond. Photographs released by the department show the animal howling and struggling to keep her head above the surface as ice surrounded her.
Without hesitation, Khubchandani broke through the layer of ice and waded into the frigid, muddy water, inching closer until he was able to reach the dog. The images show the lieutenant lifting the soaked animal from the pond and carrying her to safety.
Khubchandani was able to “safely remove the dog and reunite her with her owner,” the Portsmouth Police Department wrote in a social media post recounting the rescue.
According to police, the dog was later reported to be “safe and warm,” and Animal Control followed up on the incident. Additional photos shared by the department showed the dog back with her owner after the ordeal.
“Fortunately, this is just a wet uniform, a cold pond, and a happy dog back with her person,” the department wrote. “Animal Control followed up on the incident and the dog is safe and warm.”
Thousands of miles away, a far more violent encounter involving a dog left a family grieving in northern Georgia just days before Christmas.
Authorities said 70-year-old Terry Loden was walking his dog, Jesse, with his wife at Simpson Park in Gainesville last Sunday afternoon when the outing turned deadly.
The park, located along Lake Lanier, allows dogs but requires them to be leashed, though it remains unclear whether either animal involved was restrained at the time.
According to the Hall County Sheriff’s Office, Jesse became involved in a fight with another dog. What began as a confrontation between pets quickly escalated into a fatal encounter.
Investigators allege that the other dog’s owner, identified as 52-year-old Todd Alexander Stalcup, pulled out a handgun and shot Jesse. Moments later, authorities say Stalcup turned the weapon on Loden.
Loden’s wife, Cheryle, told Atlanta News First that her husband had been on the phone with their granddaughter when the chaos erupted. She recalled overhearing him tell the child to “hang on,” followed by instructions to Jesse not to “mess with that dog.”
She described rushing toward her husband as shots rang out.“He was on top of her pulling her off and about that time, the man just shot my dog, and Terry stood up and said, “Man what are you doing?” And he just shot him,” Cheryle said.
She said her husband looked up at her as he lay wounded. “He just looked up at me and said, “I love you.” He said, “I’m going.” I said, “No, you’re not.””
Cheryle told investigators she was already calling 911 when the shooting occurred, and said Stalcup replied, “Yeah, you do that.”
According to her account, Stalcup paced nearby as Loden fought for his life before driving away. Cheryle applied pressure to her husband’s wound until paramedics arrived, but he later died at a local hospital.
Deputies located and arrested Stalcup about 15 minutes after the shooting. He was charged with murder, felony murder, aggravated assault and possession of a firearm used in a crime. Jail records show he is being held at the Hall County Jail without bond.
Loden’s family described the killing as “senseless and unprovoked.” Cheryle said the two men had not been fighting before her husband was shot and that the violence unfolded rapidly.
Another dog-related confrontation turned brutal in Missouri, where authorities say a man attending a middle school basketball game was severely beaten in a parking lot by someone who accused him of injuring a pet.
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According to court documents, the attack happened outside Pleasant Hope Middle School in Polk County. The 21-year-old victim had stepped outside during the game “for some air” after becoming irritated with how the game was going, according to a probable cause statement.
Police allege the suspect, identified as Charles Cooper, confronted the young man near the road and began yelling, “You hit my dog and ran away.” The victim told investigators that he had struck something with his car on the way to the game but did not realize it was a dog.
Authorities say Cooper was armed with a metal flashlight and used it as a weapon, striking the victim and knocking him to the ground. Even after the man fell, Cooper allegedly continued the assault.
Court records quote Cooper making chilling statements during the attack. “You made my dog bleed internally, now I’m going to make you bleed internally,” he said, according to the documents.
Witnesses entering the gymnasium reportedly saw the beating unfold. One woman told police she screamed at Cooper to stop, only to hear him respond, “No, he hit my dog.”
The victim suffered multiple injuries and was taken to a hospital for treatment. Cooper was charged with first-degree assault by “attempting to cause physical injury to another person under the influence of sudden passion,” as well as armed criminal action.
In Arizona, a dog walk ended in a different kind of violence when a 71-year-old man was attacked in a park by a stranger who approached him on a bicycle.
Jeff Zimmerman was walking his dog on the afternoon of Dec. 13 when another man dismounted his bike and began beating him, according to police and family members. Two bystanders intervened and managed to pull the attacker away, likely preventing even more severe injuries.
Zimmerman was taken to a hospital with serious injuries. Police told CBS affiliate KPHO that an arrest had been made in connection with the attack, though additional details about the suspect were not released.
Zimmerman’s daughter, Kiera Zimmerman, later spoke with KPHO, offering an update on her father’s condition.
“He really is literally my ride or die. And he really is like the most loving guy. But he’s the strongest person I’ve met in my life,” she said.
She said her father spent four days in intensive care before being transferred to a trauma unit. In a GoFundMe statement, she wrote that Zimmerman was “in immense pain and is only at the very beginning of what will be a long and difficult recovery.”
Despite the severity of his injuries, she said she remains grateful.
“But the fact that they were like, right place, right time is literally an act of God. Like, that’s incredible. He’s okay because of these two strangers that happened to be there at the right time,” she told the outlet.
Police said they were continuing to work toward releasing additional information about the suspect arrested in the case.
