Police in Easttown Township, Pennsylvania, are being called heroes after body camera video captured them saving two dogs from an icy pond.

The daring rescue happened Friday around 3 p.m. on Waynesbrooke Road. 

In the video, you can hear the sad sound of one of the dogs whimpering as the officers spring into action to rescue the animals from the freezing water.

Officers say when they got to the scene they found two black labs. One of them was not far from the bank, they say, but the other needed to be rescued first after swimming to a much deeper end of the pond.

“If they weren’t able to get themselves out, they may have drowned,” said Charles Burdsall, one of the responding officers. 

Burdsall says it was the first call they ever received for a water rescue in Easttown Township. He says their hearts were racing the entire time but they didn’t think twice, knowing every second mattered to save the dogs.

“The only goal at the time was to get the dog out of the pond,” Burdsall said. 

Their focus was not only to get the dogs out but to do so without breaking the ice. Luckily, the officers say neighbors were able to give them a ladder and a pole that proved to be exactly what they needed to pull the dogs out.

“[The dog’s] neck was touching the ice. [Burdsall] couldn’t get too close to the dog. We figured the ice was thinner there and we didn’t want him falling in. It was a pretty amped up situation,” Kevin Oreskovich with Easttown Township Police said. 

The dogs are doing fine and were reunited with their owner, the officers said. 

The officers are now being celebrated as heroes.

“It was rewarding. It felt good,” Oreskovich said.

“Being able to help them when they were in distress,” Burdsall said, “that was big for me.”