Emergency personnel made a gruesome recovery after responding to a report of a boat over the dam on Cheshire Pond in Jaffrey on Tuesday evening.
Fire crews responded to Fitch Road, just between DD Bean and Cheshire Pond on Route 202, at approximately 4:29 p.m. to investigate a report that a boat, which has been at the bottom of the dam for more than a year, had what appeared to be an animal inside. They found a two-seat paddleboat stuck at the bottom of the dam; once they investigated further, they found the decaying remains of a dog, Peterborough Fire Chief Ed Walker, who attended the call, said.
The deceased canine was recovered by firefighters.
Jaffrey Fire Chief David Chamberlain said the dog’s owners have been identified, and had reported the dog missing within the last 30 days. The dog had been deceased for some period of time and its remains were identified from the size and description of the collar on the animal.
Chamberlain said the boat may have been at the bottom of the dam for longer than a year, and that the dog’s remains were only recently noticed. The remains may have washed over the dam and into the boat coincidentally.
“The best we can determine, at some point the dog fell in the water, floated over the dam and ended up in the boat,” Chamberlain said.
Ashley Saari can be reached at 924-7172 ext. 244 or asaari@ledgertranscript.com. She’s on Twitter @AshleySaariMLT.