弗莱艰难营救行动

[SIZE="3"]Efforts to capture Fredericton's elusive St. John River canine are continuing.

Despite a daylong attempt Friday to lure the lost dog off the rapidly melting ice of New Brunswick's largest waterway, the 14-month-old Tibetan mastiff remained just out of reach of those trying to get it off the river.

Numerous times, the dog, which answers to the name of Chaka, would wander close to shore and then dart away. At least two other dogs were brought to the scene to capture the animal's attention, but those efforts were futile.

"He's afraid. He's been out there a week," said the dog's breeder Lucie Duchesne of Sorel, Que., who spent much of Friday talking to the dog in French and encouraging it to come to her.

"I call for my dog, but he does not come."

Duchesne said she and her husband Daniel drove hours to get to Fredericton after discovering what had happened.

Officials said the dog was purchased about two weeks ago by a man in Oromocto but, after a couple of days, it bolted and apparently made its way from Oromocto to Fredericton, via the frozen river.

The owner discovered the dog's fate and location through the media and advised officials who were able to reach the breeder.

Time, however, seems to be running out for the nervous pooch as ice on the river deteriorated considerably between Thursday and Friday, with several open spots appearing in an area south of the Bill Thorpe Walking Bridge, which is where the dog seems to be drawn.

"The ice is completely gone out of the river above Fredericton," said assistant deputy fire chief Robert Martin. "It is very untrustworthy here."

He said conditions are too unpredictable to send the fire department's rescue team after the dog.

"It is extremely treacherous right now," he said.

"We are monitoring, but we are not going to send a team out there. It's life-threatening. We're still trying to get it to come off the ice, (but) we can't get within 30 feet of it."

The fire department's rescue unit was on standby throughout the day in the event Duchesne or anyone helping her ended up in the river.

Tranquilizing the dog is being examined, Martin said, but the shooter has to be within three metres of the dog.

"If we do tranquilize it and it gets out to open water, we are going to have another problem."

Martin said the department is advising residents to stay off the ice.

Although it's drawn to one particular area of the river, the dog for a short time Friday crossed the river towards Fredericton's south side and then wandered under the Princess Margaret Bridge, about half a kilometre away.

Martin said the dog is in good health and is capable of leaving when it wants.

"It's coming up off the ice at night because we have tracks," Martin said. "It's coming and going whenever it wants.

"We are doing everything that we can, but we know we can't catch it (because) all we are going to do is chase it and have it go closer to open water."

One theory that was being promoted prior to Friday was that the dog was being drawn to a single spot in the river because someone could have fallen through the ice, perhaps the dog's owner.

But now that the owner has been located, that idea is no longer being looked at, said Const. Ralph Currie of the Fredericton Police Force.

"We're confident or satisfied that it wouldn't be something in the water that's keeping the dog in one specific location," Currie said. "We don't see where something would be snagged under that ice because the water is too high."

Currie said the dog is easily spooked.

"It's not like a chocolate Lab that just wiggles its bum and goes up to anyone. This dog here is a little scared of people."

Gary Smith of Fredericton was one of the onlookers Friday.

"He must be getting pretty hungry. But he's not interested in coming in. He just looks lost," Smith said.[/SIZE]

[media]http://harvest.canadaeast.com/image.php?id=268891&size=265x0.jpg[/media]
营救人员继续尝试营救那只藏獒。