Rescued cow on the mend
Animal had wandered into a muddy pasture and gotten stuck
HARWINTON — Jennifer, the 900-pound Scottish Highland beef cow rescued from a muddy pasture Wednesday, stood up briefly Thursday and appears to be on the mend, her happy owners said Thursday afternoon.
Neighbors joined with the cow’s owners, and later Harwinton volunteer firefighters, to dig Jennifer out of the mud into which she had wandered and get her to a warm barn, where a veterinarian checked her over and where her family has been caring for her since Wednesday night.
“She definitely seems to be not giving up,” said Sandra Davis, whose husband, Scott Ragaglia, owns Jennifer. “Her body is not giving up.”
Jennifer ended up with hypothermia after her extended time stuck in the mud. The vet who checked her Wednesday night said the next 24 hours would be key.
Ragaglia, Davis and friends got Jennifer into a heated barn and covered her with blankets.
Jennifer has been eating and drinking, which are good signs, and stood up briefly on Thursday, Davis said. “We’re very hopeful,” Davis said.
Ragaglia and friends dug her out of the muddy field, but Jennifer had become exhausted and cold and could not walk, and they could not get her to the barn. That’s where the Harwinton Volunteer Fire Department joined the effort. Firefighters used all-terrain vehicles, winches, ladders, fence posts and a piece of plywood to move Jennifer to the barn. Some volunteer firefighters and local farmers brought expertise in working with large animals to the effort.
Dave Bousquet, deputy chief of the Harwinton Volunteer Fire Department, said the call came in about 2:30 p.m. Wednesday from the RagagliaDavis home on Woodchuck Lane.
“She was definitely a little cold and weak,” Bousquet said of the cow, adding that conditions were tough. Just walking to the cow would cause a person to sink a 1 1⁄ feet into the
2 mud, he said.
“All pitched in to get the job done,” Bousquet said. “I’ve got a great group of guys to work with.”
Davis said cows usually are pretty good about avoiding muddy spots in the pasture.
Wednesday night, Jennifer was sitting up and eating, Davis said. Because cows have complex digestive systems, eating will actually generate some body heat, Davis said the vet told her.
Wednesday was not the first time Harwinton firefighters rescued a cow.
A few years ago, a cow wandered onto the cover over an in-ground swimming pool and got stuck.
“She definitely seems to be not giving up. Her body is not giving up.”
— Sandra Davis, whose husband, Scott Ragaglia, owns Jennifer the cow