NEW SMYRNA BEACH -- A horse stuck in a muddy hole late Thursday night was rescued by firefighters, a veterinarian and her staff and a tow wrecker, at the Matava Family Farm, 225 Sugar Mill Road, a fire official said.Upon arrival at 11:31 p.m., New Smyrna Beach Fire Department units found a horse stuck in a wetland/cypress head type area. The animal was stuck/entrapped in the mud and water. The commander on the scene, Battalion Chief Andy West, called for additional assistance which included; a heavy wrecker from Bishop’s Wrecker Service, veterinarian Dr. Cindy Merrick, her associate Jill Getty; and Tom Smith a heavy equipment operator.
Fire Department spokesman and Division Chief Randy Wright gave the following summary of action taken: "Rescuers utilized a tow cable from the wrecker that was stretched above the horse and across to a pine tree and tied off. The NSBFD employed the use of its high angle rescue rope equipment and rigged a lifting unit with pulleys and blocks and attached the rig to the cable. Using a horse lifting harness provided by Dr. Merrick and Jill Getty, the horse was lifted out of the muddy hole. This operation took several hours to accomplish. The horse was moved incrementally due to many factors including the weight of the animal, limited access, snags, stumps, and felled trees (some were cut for access) in the immediate area. Without the special lifting harness provided by the doctor we believe the horse would have sustained injury. Dr. Merrick continually evaluated the horse during the entire operation."
"Crystal," owned by Lisa Comko, was doing fine in her recovery Friday, Wright said.
Comments
Kudos to the Rescue Team!
Submitted by Dr. Rebecca Gimenez (not verified) on Sat, 2009-11-07 07:19.What a great story! Dr. Cindy Merrick and her late husband (a Firefighter) have attended and hosted several Technical Large Animal Emergency Rescue (TLAER.org) related events over the years, and she has such a great disaster plan for herself and her clients that I featured her in my book. She is dedicated to assisting her clients and educating them about safety with their horses.
Incremental technical rescues such as this require specialized equipment, training and methods to be successful - you are fortunate to have a dedicated firefigher team and veterinarian in your area that could accomplish such a task efficiently and safely for the victim as well as keeping the rescuers in a safe position.
Kudos to her and to the team performing a safe rescue!
Dr. Rebecca Gimenez, PhD.
Monday, November 9, 2009
FL Horse Rescued From Muddy Hole Via Tow Truck
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horse rescue on Sugar Mill Road
What a wonderful story. There is a right way -- and a wrong way -- to remove a large animal from entrapment. The wrong way is most often employed and is usually devastating to the animal, often causing more injury and even death as a result of trying to help. Anyone interested in learning more about this type of rescue is invited to go to www.saveyourhorse.com, the website for Large Animal Rescue.
Congrats to Chief West, the NSBFD, Dr. Merrick, Jill Getty and Tom Smith for their excellent work, and for having the foresight to take the training needed. Obviously it paid off!