THOMASTON — Lagoon 4, a section of Thomaston’s municipal sewer system, is a toxic pool under the purview of the town’s Environmental Department. Trespassers into the lagoon – animals and humans alike – are risking their lives being there, according to Environmental Dept. Superintendent Ed Harris.

So the stress of a dog that ended up in the pool after running away from its owner, July 27, coupled with the stress of the owner, who disregarded Harris’ repeated requests to not jump in to get his dog, created a tense situation.

In the minutes prior to 2:58 p.m., a large Siberian Husky mix raced past Harris, who was working at the treatment facility, which is near the Thomaston Town Forest. Just minutes later, the owner ran up, breathless, with another dog on a leash. The owner asked if his dog “was up there,” and pointed to the lagoon system, recounted Harris.

Harris told the man to wait while he retrieved the gate keys for that particular area of the plant. When he returned, the man was gone, having followed the dog’s path around the back of the building and through a hole in the fence, and was standing at the top of the lagoon when Harris arrived.

“The man was hysterical; he was losing his mind,” said Harris. “The dog was swimming OK, but yes, he was in a bath of toxic water.”

The man wanted to jump in.

“We’re talking about 20 feet down to the water,” said Harris. “And the water is probably about 13 feet deep, at that point.”

Harris tried to calm the man, explaining the plan to call for help, and then to search for something that might lure the dog up.

Harris told the man not to descend to the lagoon. He told him there was no way out, and he would wind up in the water with the dog.

Once the man seemed calmer, Harris ran back to the office to retrieve his cellphone. But when he looked out the window, after grabbing the phone, the man was gone.

Harris said he called the fire chief and police chief. With no answer, he dialed 911 and relayed the details of the man disappearing from sight after having threatened to jump in, leaving Harris to assume that the man had followed through on his threat.

Harris finished the 911 call and carried up some rubber hose that was strong enough to hold a person.

“I couldn’t tell if the man was under the water because the dog was flailing around,” he said. “I was looking for bubbles while I was tying that [hose] up.”

Then the man suddenly reappeared, said Harris. He’d been in the woods/brush area, and had now returned holding a short piece of rope, maybe four feet long.

Harris told the man how relieved he was that he had not gone into the water. 

Thomaston Assistant Fire Chief Tony Leo, who also works one day a week at the sewer facility, arrived. Both he and Harris tried to calm the dog owner, who was upset.

“It’s understandable,” said Harris, who has three dogs of his own and understands that dogs run away and get into things. “His dog is down there, and crying out. It tugs at your heart.”

Leo sent Harris to get one of the treatment department’s boats, just in case. At that time, help was starting to arrive in the form of ambulance personnel and police officer. But the man, standing at the top rim of the lagoon, was starting to slip down further.

“He was preparing to just go in,” said Harris. “There wasn’t much choice. Somebody needed to act.”

Leo used the hose that Harris had tied off, and went ahead and repelled his way down the 70 percent incline.

“Anything that doesn’t have webbed feet slides down that,” said Harris.

There was no grip for traction, and the rainstorms of that afternoon and prior days had made the ground even more slippery.

Personnel who arrived pulled Leo back up. The dog was handed to the owner, who carried the canine away. And never came back.

“I’m not upset with the owner,” said Harris. “Things can happen, but we don’t even know the guy’s name so we can’t ask him. A million reasons could explain it. He could have gone to check his mail and the dog ran out. Anything could have happened. It’s unfortunate for that fellow. And it’s also unfortunate that it put him in what he didn’t even realize was a horrible decision process, of wanting to save his dog. And he was not going to be able to save his dog. He could have gone in and not been able to get out. He could have drowned very easily.”

And, the water is toxic, unhealthy to fall into.

The perimeter fence and the signage are there for a reason, according to Harris. The laws requiring dogs to be on leashes is there for a reason. 

The incident is being reviewed by multiple agencies.