A strong current sucked the 100-pound dog into the pond’s drain, which siphons storm runoff to the Flint River. The Huntsville, Ala., property says it has capped the drain with a grate.
Hampton Cove Golf Course in Huntsville, Ala., says it has covered a pond drain that recently sucked in and drowned a nearly 100-pound dog, the Birmingham (Ala.) News reported.
On the evening of June 12, Hannah Slodov took her two Rottweilers, Zoe and Oz, for a walk on the city’s popular Flint River Greenway. Zoe leaped into a pond on Hampton Cove’s River Course, which adjoins the greenway, the News reported.
The three-year-old dog had cooled off in the pond on previous occasions, Slodov said, but the water level was higher this time because of rain. The large drain in the pond that siphons storm runoff to the Flint River was completely submerged, Slodov told the News.
“Zoe was in there swimming about six feet from the bank,” Slodov said. “We were playing fetch. I turned around to get her another stick, and she was just gone.”
She said the 92-pound dog apparently got caught in the strong current flowing toward the drain and was sucked in. Zoe’s lifeless body surfaced four days later near where the drainage pipe empties into the river, the News reported.
“I had to drag her up to the parking lot and find somebody to help me get her into the car,” she said. “It was horrendous. I would give anything right now to have her back.”
The day after Zoe’s death, Slodov spoke with Hampton Cove officials about covering the drain pipe to prevent any more tragedies, the News reported.
“I’ve seen kids fishing by that pond, and I’m sure teenagers go in there at night to get golf balls,” she said. “I don’t want to see this happen to anyone else.”
While Slodov felt the golf course did not take her concerns seriously, Steve Mack, Hampton Cove’s director of golf, said the drain pipe has been capped with a grate, the News reported.
“We’ve been here for 22 years,” Mack said, “and have never had any issues like that before.”
The pond where Zoe drowned is the only one at Hampton Cove with that type of drainage system, the News reported.
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