An Essex man who stripped to his underpants to save his dog from a frozen river has defended his actions.Malcolm Jarvis, from Bradfield, who crawled out onto the ice in temperatures of minus 4C, said: "Any dog owner would do the same."Mr Jarvis, 48, was walking in Dedham, Essex, when his Jack Russell, Bentley, fell through the ice after chasing ducks onto the River Stour.
The company director, his wife Rachel, 46, and their two teenage daughters watched in horror as Bentley struggled to clamber back onto the ice.Mr Jarvis told the Daily Mail: "He was desperately trying to scramble back on to it, but he couldn't pull himself up."We were watching his little head sink lower and lower in the water and he was getting tired and slowing down because of the cold."I was thinking, 'We're going to lose the dog - he's going to die'. I couldn't let that happen.
"Then the adrenaline kicked in and I knew I had to make a decision and my gut instinct was to rescue him. Any dog owner would do the same."Mr Jarvis fell through the ice but managed to grab Bentley by the scruff of the neck and hoist him back onto the ice before hauling himself out of the water.His actions were described as "extremely dangerous" by Essex Fire and Rescue Service.
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