There are a lot of reasons why there are rules requiring dogs to be on leashes. One of the lesser known ones? To keep distraught owners from jumping into the Hudson to save their four-legged friends. Which is exactly what 29-year-old Molly Pfeiffer did yesterday when her unleashed wheaton terrier mix Boogie took a dive after a gull by Pier 54 near West 14th Street and landed in the river.
"I saw her go down into the water and I went after her," Pfeiffer told the Daily News. "The current was pretty strong. She was going to drown."
"The dog doesn’t swim, so I don’t know why she let her jump in—[Boogie’s] not good in the water," Pfeiffer's 43-year-old boyfriend Ryan O’Connell complained to the Post. "But [Boogie jumped]. And my girlfriend jumped in after her."
Once in the water Pfeiffer grabbed the canine and got him onto an algae-soaked piece of wood while she called out for help. According to the News a samaritan nearby called 911 while the Post is reporting Pfeiffer pulled herself out of the murk and called 911 herself (followed quickly by her boyfriend). Either way, the NYPD Harbor Unit arrived on the scene quickly and got the sopping wet dog out of the 40° water.
"She was freezing and panicked... I am furious with her. I don’t know what happened," O'Connell explained before bringing Boogie home. Pfeiffer was taken to Beth Israel to be checked for signs of hypothermia before being sent on her way.
Meanwhile it remains against the rules in Hudson River park to have your dogs off-leash outside of one of the three dog runs. No matter how deserted it may be. Not that that seems to stop people—Boogie wasn't even the first dog to get pulled out the river this year.
