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Sensational effort: Fire brigade saves horse from treacherous pit!
A 20-year-old mare is rescued after an accident in the Aachen Forest. The fire brigade and veterinarian ensure safety and health.
Sensational effort: Fire brigade saves horse from treacherous pit!
On Tuesday afternoon around 4:30 p.m., a remarkable rescue operation took place in the Aachen Forest in North Rhine-Westphalia, which once again shows how courageous and inventive animal rescuers are. A rider was riding her 20-year-old mare “Fee” when the ground suddenly gave way under the horse’s hooves. The animal fell backwards into a cavity about 1.5 meters deep, so that only its head was visible. Fortunately, the rider was able to get herself to safety and immediately call for help. The local fire department, a veterinarian and Lutz Huhn, an expert in large animal rescue from the ComCavalo company, quickly arrived. Image reports that the entire rescue operation lasted about two hours.
“Fee” was finally freed from her predicament with an excavator and shovels. The firefighters carefully pulled the mare out of the pit with a rope. After the rescue operation, the animal was examined immediately by a veterinarian and warmed with an infrared heat lamp and a horse blanket. Luckily, “Fee” survived the incident without any injuries, but she is still being examined more closely in the stable to make sure everything is okay.
The role of the fire department in animal rescues
Rescuing animals in distress, especially large animals such as horses, is one of the fire department's central tasks. This is now equipped with special equipment to free animals from various emergency situations, be it from ditches, mud holes or transporters. Peter Berger, deputy commander, emphasizes that the number of such operations is constantly increasing. Another example is an incident on Monday evening in which a horse fell into a ditch after the ground was softened by rain and fell almost two meters deep. In this case, too, a rapid and coordinated rescue operation was required to bring the horse back to safety. [Hooforia](https://www.hooforia.com/pferde-und-menschen/reportage/pferderettung-wie-pferde-sicher-aus-notsituationen-befreit- Werden/) explains how important cooperation between emergency services and veterinarians is.
But not all animals in trouble are automatically a case for the fire department. As firefighter Theresa Balzer explains, the emergency services should only be called if an animal is in immediate danger or needs direct help. For animals such as cats, who often get down on their own, fire brigade operations are not always necessary. The animal rescue operations are usually subject to a fee for the animal owners, although in some municipalities the municipality can cover the costs under certain conditions. NDR points out that the costs for operations such as the use of a fire truck can be quite high.
The recent events surrounding the rescue of “Fee” are an impressive example of how important the training and equipment of fire departments is in order to provide quick and effective assistance to animals in danger. Such operations show once again that the fire department is not only there for people, but also for our loyal animal companions.