Mesa firefighters pulled Ansel, an epileptic German Shorthaired Pointer, out of a canal on Tuesday after the dog fell in and could not climb out on his own. The rescue ended with a reunion with his owners after a day that could easily have turned much worse for a pet already vulnerable to confusion after seizures.
Engine 2205 was called to the canal in Mesa after the dog was spotted swimming exhausted in the water. Firefighters corralled him, put a rope around him and hauled him to safety. That sequence mattered because Ansel was not simply tired; he was unable to get out himself, which made the canal a trap rather than a setback.
Ansel’s case drew attention because epilepsy can leave him disoriented and confused after a seizure, and that makes a fall into moving water especially dangerous. He also ran away after the storm Monday night by escaping through a gate, and his collar was broken, leaving fewer clues for anyone trying to bring him home.
The first hurdle after the rescue was identification. Ansel was taken to a veterinarian and was found not to be chipped, so firefighters did not immediately know which missing dog they had pulled from the canal. A social media post later identified him, matching the rescued dog to the alert about a missing animal named Ansel.
That gap is what made the reunion feel earned rather than automatic. The dog was safe, but the details that tied him to his family came only after the rescue itself was over. By Tuesday, Mesa firefighters had returned Ansel to his owners, closing the day with a recovery that started in the canal and ended at home.
