17 firefighters pull pregnant cow from mud in Picton
SEVENTEEN firefighters pulled a pregnant cow from the mud on a Picton farm during a delicate and slippery operation last night that required an excavator.
Macarthur
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SEVENTEEN firefighters pulled a pregnant cow from the mud on a Picton farm during a delicate and slippery operation last night.
Picton Fire and Rescue Station 421 captain William Morris said the property owner had been excavating a dam on his property when the pregnant heifer walked across the muddy site and became stuck in the mud about 7.15pm.
“The mud was over 1m deep and it was too dangerous to go in,’’ Mr Morris said.
A crew from Liverpool Fire and Rescue provided assistance and brought their new technical rescue vehicle with them.
A large excavator was then used to dig tonnes of mud and silt out of the dam before a path was dug to allow the firefighters to reach the cow.
Mr Morris said a sheet was placed over the pregnant cow to keep her calm during the rescue mission
Firefighters wearing harnesses then climbed into the mud to reach the cow and they put a harness and a sling around the animal before ropes were fed through the harness to pull the cow of the mud.
Mr Morris said the manpower of about 17 firefighters was then used to pull the cow, which weighed between 400kg and 500kg, from the mud.
The delicate operation took almost three hours to complete and the cow was pulled free from the mud about 10pm.
Mr Morris said the cow was due to calf in about a month and he was told this morning that both the cow and her unborn calf were doing well.
This is not the first time that the Picton crew has rescued a cow.
“We pulled a few cows out of dams last year and we’ve also pulled horses out of septic tanks,’’ he said.