Editor’s note: This article has been updated to include that the dog had died after the vehicle was submerged in the river. 

The “Dipnet Kenai” smartphone app was put to the test on Monday after an unaccompanied dog managed to shift a truck into neutral, sending the vehicle into the Kenai River.

The app alerted users to a “potential navigational hazard,” shortly after 12:30 p.m. during the first day of the fishery after a white 2005 Dodge Ram pickup truck rolled into the water between the end of south beach and the Kenai River entrance marker on the north bank of the mouth of the river.

According to officials on the scene, a dog was left in the vehicle unaccompanied and shifted the car from park to neutral causing the pickup truck to slide into the river.

The vehicle was removed from the river by 12:50 p.m. after an effort to locate and remove the vehicle.

The dog died in the vehicle after it had been submerged, said Seargeant Jay Sjrogren of the Kenai Police Department. 

No other injuries were reported.

— Staff Report