2 'Water-Logged' Animals Rescued From Dicey Situations In RivCo

RIVERSIDE COUNTY, CA — A dog and an opossum were both rescued from watery peril over the weekend by officers from Riverside County Animal Services, the agency said Monday.

The opossum's adventures began last week, when a resident on Whale Rock Court in the city of of Riverside fished it out of their swimming pool and the marsupial scurried into some shrubs. But the resident called Animal Services around 5 p.m. Saturday after noticing it hadn't left its spot in the bushes, the agency said in a news release.

At the scene, Officer Adam Haisten discovered that the critter was blind, likely explaining how it made its way into the pool. Haisten named the female opossum "Dwightina" and brought her to Sunshine Haven, a nonprofit wildlife rescue center in Riverside.

The following morning, Officer Haisten responded to a new call, in which a dog was reportedly trapped in a section of the Gage Canal in Riverside, near the intersection of Dufferin Avenue and Madison Street.

The trapped pup had been called in by a woman who was out walking her own dogs when she spotted the terrier mix stuck in the canal, seemingly trapped in a meshwork of metal rods.

"The canal does not to appear to be very big, but it is deeper than people think, and the water is very quick moving,” Haisten said in a news release. “We were able to lower a leash around the dog’s neck and helped it out of its watery predicament. The dog stood shakily for a moment, but then happily followed us over to the animal control truck.”

The dog was taken to the Western Riverside County/City Animal Shelter in Jurupa Valley. Thankfully, it was microchipped, which led to a quick reunion Monday morning between the dog — Vader, a 4-year-old Kerry blue terrier — and its owner, Kimmery Moss.

Vader had escaped Saturday evening along with fellow dog Jackson, a Wheaten terrier, while Moss's house was being appraised, Animal Services said. While Jackson was found by a neighbor, Vader wound up in the canal.

"We are so thrilled to have him back and it was super easy," Moss said in the news release. "We are incredibly grateful for the Good Samaritan and the Animal Services officer who rescued our pup. It’s folks like these that remind us that Riverside is such a wonderful place to live."