The Benalla community sprung into action on Sunday, February 19, when word went out that a dog was missing in Lake Benalla.
And it was the youngest responder, 12-year-old Casey Coady, who saved the day, swimming into the pitch black darkness guided only by sporadic barking.
The ordeal began around 9.30pm when Deb Little decided to take her three dogs on a lakeside walk.
“It was a beautiful starry night, but very dark,” Deb said.
“We were down near the Garden tennis courts and I let them off the lead.
“Next thing I hear ‘splash’. My first thought was, ‘I hope it’s not Rusty’, as he doesn’t swim.
“But of course it was Rusty. I could hear him swimming around, which was a miracle in itself.
“In 17 years he hasn’t swum once. But he wasn’t barking or showing any signs of despair as he normally would. He’s a bit of a drama queen.
“So I thought he was enjoying himself. Then I lost sight of him, which is when I panicked.”
Deb had the torch on her phone, which she described as useless when it was that dark.
“He wasn’t able to get back up where he fell as the bank is steep. But I was trying to use the phone to guide him to where he could get out,” she said.
“But he went the other way and I lost sight of him. Then I couldn’t hear him and I was certain he’d drowned.”
Not knowing what to do, Deb called a neighbour, who sent her 12-year-old son to help as she attempted to call police, SES and CFA to see if anyone could assist.
“She called back to tell me she couldn’t get in contact with any of them,” she said.
Not knowing what else to do, Deb put a call for help on the Benalla Community Noticeboard Facebook page.
Moments later, Casey arrived.
“By this stage I hadn’t heard Rusty in a while, maybe 20 minutes. I couldn’t see him. I thought he was gone,” Deb said.
“Then we heard a bark. I thought it was coming from what local people call the ‘snake island’.
“Then Casey said he was going to swim out there. I couldn’t believe how brave he was. I would not have made it out there.”
While he hadn’t been in for a couple of years, Casey used to swim in the lake and had no issues going in.
“It was a nice night and I was just happy to have a swim,” Casey said.
“Rusty hadn’t even made it to the island. His lead was caught on a branch under water nearby.”
It was only Rusty’s head above water, but luckily the branch was brittle and Casey was able to free him quickly.
“It just broke. So I swam him in,” Casey said.
“He was pretty happy to be back on dry land.”
While Casey was saving the day, the Benalla community had turned up in numbers.
“People started to arrive with spotlights and torches,” Deb said.
“I recognised one guy, it was my plumber, Kyle, and he had a great big spotlight.
“He spotted Casey, who had just got to Rusty, in the water and shone the light to help him.
“And people kept turning up. I think about 12 different people in total were all there to help save Rusty.
“The spotlights followed Casey all the way back in. It was like something out of a movie.
“The day before I wasn’t feeling very good about the world art large.
“This has changed my whole perspective on humanity.
“I want to thank everyone who came out to help. And a big thank you to Benalla Community Noticeboard. I was gobsmacked by all the help.”
As for Casey, Deb had an even bigger thank you.
“I’m taking him out for dinner tonight (Wednesday, February 22).
“He is turning 13 at the weekend and I wanted to thank him personally and in the Ensign.
“He’s a real hero.”