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www.oakvillebeaver.com The Oakville Beaver, Friday February 23, 2007 - 21 Hero goes to rescue of drowning Snoopy By David Lea OAKVILLE BEAVER STAFF Look for our Boxing Day Blowout Returns Flyer in today's paper! DOOR CRASHERS 7:00 AM SATURDAY! An Oakville man can't decide whether extreme stupidity or extraordinary kindness caused him to risk his life to save a drowning dog. On Dec. 30, John Allen, owner of the Oakville based company Leakpro International Inc, and his wife Deborah Koyata met with friends and family at a rented farmhouse in Napanee. Situated on a hill, the farmhouse offered a beautiful holiday setting, overlooking the semifrozen Hay Bay. As evening approached a group of Koyata's friends decided to go for a walk along the shore of the bay but as they did so they were distracted by a strange sound. "They kept on hearing a crying or whimpering sound but they couldn't see anything," said Koyata. Believing an animal may have been hit by a car Koyata's friends checked the ditches along the side of a nearby road but again found nothing. Back at the farmhouse Allen and a friend could also hear the noise. "My buddy and I were outside, he was having a cigar, and we kept hearing like this muffled crying noise, and this had to be going on for at least 45 minutes," said Allen. With the sun having set Allen grabbed a high powered spotlight and shone it on to the bay only to see two eyes shining back at him in the distance. Allen drove his truck down the hill to the shore of the bay where he turned on the vehicle's headlights revealing a small beagle who had fallen through a hole in the ice. "It was going under. We had seen its head bobbing under at that point," said Allen. "It was just a matter of minutes." Wasting no time Allen took off his jacket and his watch and dove into the freezing water swimming out until he was able to climb onto a sheet of ice. "It was freaking cold, I thought I was having a heart attack. It was See in store for complete details. check out www.oakvillebeaver.com PHOTO COURTESY OF JOHN ALLEN A DOG'S BEST FRIEND: Snoopy and John Allen share a cuddle. painful, it was so freaking cold," he said. Crawling on his stomach Allen was able to reach the dog at, what he estimated to be, about 300 feet from shore. Pulling the dog from the water by the scruff of its neck Allen was making his way back when disaster struck. "That's when the ice broke and, `boom!' We both went under." Despite the danger to himself, Allen actually held onto the dog while he swam back to shore, where he promptly passed out. Back at the farmhouse Koyata had only just heard that Allen had fallen through the ice and was preparing to rush down to the bay when friends and family brought him in. A hot shower later and Allen was back to normal. "We called the paramedics just to make sure and there were no problems," said Koyata. The next day Allen learned that the dog had been taken from the shore by a person who said they knew who the owners were. After contacting that person Allen reunited with an 8-year-old female beagle named Snoopy who, after spending the rest of the evening by a roaring fire, had also recovered from the ordeal. "Snoopy knew him right away and jumped up on him and gave him a great big lick on the face," said Koyata. For Allen, saving the dog had nothing to do with choice. "I couldn't let it die," he said. Koyata is not surprised by her husband's actions. "Whenever there is an emergency type situation John is very cool, calm and collected and then he falls apart after." Koyata says this isn't the first time Allen has risked his life to save others, having pulled two men out of a burning van 18 years ago. "To me he's a hero." FEBRUARY IS HEART MONTH. Please give.