Dog rescued after four days stranded on Detroit River ice

Feb. 22 (UPI) -- A Michigan animal hospital said the survival of a dog rescued after four days stranded on the ice of the Detroit River is a "miracle."

Rescuers said they think the dog was stranded on the frozen river for four days after being chased in Ecorse by a coyote from Mud Island.

"The first night, we thought for sure he was going to perish because the coyote had been chasing him," Patricia Trevino of the River Rouge Animal Shelter told WXYZ-TV.

The dog wandered closer to the Canadian side of the river on his fourth day on the ice, and was rescued by members of the public using an airboat.

The canine was taken to the Woodhaven Animal Hospital, where veterinarians said his survival was "a miracle."

"A dog like this should never have survived out there for four days," veterinarian Dr. Lucretia Greear told WJBK-TV.

Veterinarians said the dog's long hair likely helped it survive in single-digit temperatures.

The dog, nicknamed Alfonso -- or Fonzi for short -- by rescuers, is now recovering from his ordeal at the hospital.

Rescuers said they are still trying to determine if Alfonso was a stray or a pet that got loose.