Pifas, a "very playful and crazy" dog rescued from icy Lake Michigan, saw his owner today and "started jumping around in the cage" at the animal control facility.
But even though Pifas is in good health after Friday's frigid ordeal, his owner Nerijus Steponavicius will have to wait to claim his pet from the Department of Animal Care and Control because city law says the 3-year-old dog must be neutered before being released.
A kayaker helped police and fire personnel rescue Pifas from Lake Michigan in the Rogers Park neighborhood Friday afternoon – more than a week after Steponavicius says the dog ran away from home.
Late Saturday morning the pup was in good condition, according to ACC spokesman Brad Powers.
"The dog has no serious medical injuries," Powers said at the Southwest Side ACC facility.
After ownership has been verified, a final medical exam is performed at which point any needed vaccines will be given, a city dog license issued and a microchip is placed on the animal, said Powers. Additionally, by city oridinance, this dog will have to be neutered, Powers said.
The earliest Pifas would be ready to go home would be Sunday, the day after surgery, said Powers.
Steponavicius got the news when he arrived at ACC shortly past noon Saturday. Volunteers guided him and others searching to reclaim lost dogs through rows of kennels at the animal shelter until he found his 3-year-old companion.
“He’s really shy, so when he saw me he started jumping around in the cage,” Steponavicius said with a huge smile.
But since Steponavicius has to wait for Pifas' surgery, he walked out of the building holding Pifas’ red leash, bunched together in his left hand.
Steponavicius said he was disappointed he couldn’t take the dog home right away, as he made plans for Pifas to play with his parents’ two Labrador retrievers this afternoon. However, he said he was just glad his dog was safe.
“He’s never done anything like this before,” Steponavicius said. “When he walks with me, he can be off the leash.”
Steponavicius described his dog as “very playful and crazy” and said all he ever wants to do is “play ball.”
Steponavicius didn’t see the video of Pifas bouncing across the ice and swimming in the frigid lake Friday afternoon but said he’s looking forward to watching his dog on TV.
Steponavicius first went to the shelter Friday evening to try to claim his Nova Scotia duck tolling retriever, but was told he would have to return during business hours on Saturday.
Divers were already on the North Side pulling a woman in her 20s out of the lake downtown when someone spotted the stricken dog about 3:20 p.m. Friday off Loyola Park, according to a police Marine Unit officer.
The dog was almost a half a mile out and had likely gotten there because the ice was shifting after the slightly warmer temperatures that day, the officer said.
First, a helicopter was sent to the scene and hovered above to ensure it was a dog and not a coyote. Also, the air movement and sound from the helicopter's rotors sometimes spurs an animal to move, hopefully closer to shore, the officer said. Chicago Fire Department crews were also sent to the scene, and a fire boat pursued the dog for a short time.
But as rescuers were setting up a spool with a thick lifesaving line that can extend several hundred meters to enable a diver harnessed to it to crawl out on the ice, a man on a kayak pitched in, the officer said.
He paddled through the ice chunks toward the dog, coaxing it.
"I just kept encouraging him," said the kayaker, Dave Kehnast, in an interview with WGN-TV. " 'Here boy, here boy,' and he wanted to bite me! So I kind of just kept on him" until the dog headed to shore.
The dog then made its way through the ice and water, swimming safely to shore, the officer said. The entire incident lasted about an hour.
Other city workers helped corral the frightened dog in an alley near Pratt Boulevard and Sheridan Road once it was on shore.
"It was a concerted effort with the help of the police, the Chicago Fire Department, and the citizen," the officer said.
Steponavicius told WGN-TV the dog ran off when his landlord changed the locks at his home on Feb. 13.
"I still don't understand what happened" and how the dog ended up in Rogers Park, Steponavicius said.
Steponavicius started getting calls about Pifas while several local TV stations were covering the rescue efforts, including broadcasting live footage on the Internet.
It's understandable that Kehnast had difficulty getting Pifas to come to land, as the dog is skittish, Steponavicius told WGN-TV.
"He is a very shy, very shy dog, so if you or anyone would try to come to him, he would run away," Steponavicius said.
Steponavicius now hopes to buy Kehnast dinner – after Pifas is retrieved from Animal Care and Control.
It was a busy afternoon for the Marine Unit. Just before the dog was rescued, about 2:50 p.m., crews rushed to the waters off Promontory Point in the South Side's Hyde Park neighborhood, where a man had walked out onto the ice. He did not fall into the water and was able to get back to shore, the officer said.
Marine Unit divers also helped a woman, who was rescued from the water off the 900 block of North Lake Shore Drive, the officer said. She was taken to Northwestern Memorial Hospital suffering from hypothermia. Her condition was not life-threatening, the officer said.
The officer said caution should be used when the lake is iced over.
"People should not go on the ice," the officer warned. "The ice is cracking in a lot of spots."
Tribune reporter Bridget Doyle contributed.
rsobol@tribune.com
Twitter: @RosemarySobol1
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