SEYMOUR, Conn. (WTNH) — A dog is back on dry land after falling in a garbage-filled canal in Seymour. A local non-profit is now working to help clear the pollution along the river.

Firefighters were called to 639 South Main St. along the Naugatuck River about 7:30 a.m. A Metro-North crew working on a bridge across from the river found the dog about 10-12 feet down into the canal perched on a small ledge just above the water.

Seymour police say the workers reported the dog appeared to be a female German Shepard wearing a pink dog collar.

Mike Shaw, a member of the MTA team that called the authorities and witnessed the rescue efforts, told News 8 the dog looked wet, cold and scared.

Though she was standing on a ledge, she continued to try to step out onto the debris in the river to get out of the water.

Workers from the MTA told police they tried to put their boat in the water to get the dog out – coaxing it with a sandwich – but she wouldn’t budge.

Seymour police requested assistance from Seymour Animal Control and EMS. Firefighters got in the trash-filled, freezing water in cold water suits to get the dog.

Shaw called the firemen heroes: “Both of em the two firemen that were in there were very cold, freezing you can tell. They were in there for like 20 minutes.”

Shaw says the dog was barking and snapping at the firemen trying to save her.

“The fireman went above and beyond,” Shaw said.

The rescue workers eventually did get the dog out of the water. She was taken to the vet to be checked out and has been reunited with her family.

Three firefighters were taken to the hospital: two for exposure to cold water, the third for a dog bite.

Wednesday, News 8 caught up with the Seymour firemen who executed the rescue: Lieutenant John Hannon and Ron Burgess Jr.

Hannon explained, “We were basically trying to contain her where she was so she didn’t hurt herself.”

Burgess Jr. adding, “Realizing how high we had to get her up to high ground made it probably the most difficult part of the rescue.”

Shaw captured the entire rescue on his cell phone and posted the video on Facebook; it’s gotten more than 22,000 views so far.

But the rescue itself is not the only thing people are talking about. They are outraged by the garbage in the water: tires, bottles, and more at the Kinneytown Dam.

Kevin Zak who leads the non-profit, Naugatuck River Revival Group called the footage “heartbreaking.”

The group tries to clean and protect the Naugatuck River. Every summer they haul out piles of junk that has long-polluted the river. The group has come to clean the Kinneytown Dam before, but Zak says the trash keeps coming back.

“It’s coming through the storm drains from the streets in all the eleven towns on the Naugatuck River,” he explained.

The dam is on property not owned by the Town of Seymour. Zak says he’s on a mission to work with DEEP to deal with this pollution problem.

[My goal is to] get all the towns to start a Trash Exclude pilot program. The City of Waterbury is the first that’s jumped on it. They’ve put 15 trash excluders — they’re non-moving parts — they put them into the storm drains/basins — and it stops the trash from getting into the river.

– Kevin Zak

Thanks to Seymour first-responders, a dog is now rescued. Zak says he’ll do his best to rescue the river.