Trapped dog drowns in Black Butte Lake

A dog trapped in a car drowned in Black Butte Lake on Wednesday.

The mixed-breed dog, belonging to Ronald Plotnick, 59, of Fortuna, was swimming with his owner and another dog early in the morning in the Angler’s Cove area of the lake. The dog left the lake and jumped into his owner’s 1995 Ford Taurus parked on the shore, according to the Tehama County Sheriff’s Office.

Somehow the dog caused the car to begin rolling into the lake. The dog was still inside as Plotnick tried to stop the car unsuccessfully, said deputies.

Officers from the California Highway Patrol and Tehama County Sheriff’s Department’s dive team arrived at the scene around 9 a.m. Divers found the Taurus upside-down in about 15 feet of water and 20 yards from shore with the dog still trapped inside.