A puppy who spent Christmas Eve on a frozen lake is home safe after it was rescued with the help of a drone.
Brooklyn, a 20-month-old Sheepadoodle puppy, was stuck on frozen Lake Parsippany in New Jersey after she ran away from her dogsitter.
Police officers tried to lure Brooklyn back on shore with chicken, but Brooklyn wouldn't take the bait.
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Kishan Patel, who lives on the lake, saw the officers' efforts to get Brooklyn back to safety and figured he could help save the puppy with his drone. As a dog owner himself, Patel said he wanted to help.
"I know my dog is scared of drones so I thought I could use it to scare the dog off the ice," Patel told "Good Morning America" in a statement.
But Patel said that Brooklyn wasn't phased by the drone. Patel said an officer recommended tying a piece of chicken to the drone "to lure the dog off of the ice," and that's when Brooklyn budged but stopped when it saw people around and ran back to the center of the lake.
WABC reported that Patel was able to find the dog's location with his drone once night fell. And weights were used by officers to figure out how thin the ice was. When they deemed it was safe, an officer was able to lead Brooklyn back on land.
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"The dog got scared off the ice and it ran into someone's front porch where it was eventually found," Patel said.
Patel says he is happy that Brooklyn is now safe and sound.
"As a dog owner myself, I can sympathize with what the owner must have been feeling during this ordeal," he said. "I am really happy the dog is off the ice now, warm and back home."
