You don't want to throw them straight into a hot tub (the best bet is lukewarm or room temperature water), but you also don't want to dump them in the fucking snow where they're still losing body heat. Doing that is like taking a smoke inhalation victim out of a burning building and dumping them into a Bangkok airport lounge. Technically an improvement but still nowhere close to the next recovery step.
The only thing I can think of is that the rescue workers weren't willing or qualified to handle animals so they left it to the animal control officer who wasn't qualified for rescues or first aid. Then common sense left all of them as they dumped a freezing victim right onto the snow.
you don't know much about labs, huh? Ice cold water is exactly what they're bred for. That dog is happy as fuck to be alive, it doesn't give a shit about the snow.
At least with a person, if you manage to get out of ice water the first thing you should do is roll in the snow, it absorbs some of the water off your clothes and helps dry you off. Stands to reason that logic would be the same for a wet dog
If I were any of those guys I would have gotten like 3 big blankets and wrapped the dog up in those and then put that ole dog in front of a space heater!!!
No you take him to a vet and let them make sure he's OK, they are constantly getting strays in that were hit by cars or whatever the hell. They will deal with it.