Dramatic rescue of drowning horse
MORE than ten people were involved in the dramatic rescue of a horse in Marshmeadows New Ross.
The horse – a male twoyear-old – was spotted in 12 feet of water in a gripe in Marshmeadows at 8 a.m. on Tuesday of last week. Gardaí were notified and contacted the WSPCA. A female horse was roaming around nearby, but not in any immediate danger.
Animal inspector Petrina Busher said: ‘I managed to get a rope around his neck. I had to lasso it, but couldn’t get to the head. I managed to keep his head out of the water.’
With the help of a man who arrived on the scene and managed to get a rope under the horse’s hind legs, they kept it from drowning, but had no means of lifting the animal from the water.
‘We needed a teleporter as the horse was very tired and was shaking all over. It went under two or three times. We nearly lost him.’
‘It really was a joint taskforce effort to rescue Ross, which is the name we gave him. By the end there were 12 of us trying to lead him out.’
Eventually, by 11 a.m. Ross was pulled from the gripe. ‘Physically he was in good condition but was very distressed. Trying to get him out was such a dangerous operation as we couldn’t get to his front legs. There was too much muck and too many reeds and there was a danger of him choking. It was only pure luck that one of the men managed to get a rack strap from a golf buggy under his back legs to help lift him out. It was fairly traumatic.’
The two horses were removed to a stables. As they were not micro-chipped and were on private property, the WSPCA seized them and have had Ross and the female horse seen by a vet before they are re-homed.