STAFF from a Bromsgrove vets surgery played their part in a dramatic rescue in Droitwich when a cow ended up in a canal.
The incident happened on Thursday afternoon (September 8) in Tibberton.
As well as fire crews, veterinary surgeon Dr Sophie Aylett and practice manager Richard Aylett from Meadows Farm Vets in Stoke Prior Bromsgrove was also called to the scene.
By the time they got there, the animal was out of the waterway and was standing on the towpath, the opposite side of the canal to which she should have been on.
After consultation between firefighters, Dr Sophie Aylett and Richard Aylett, an expert in cattle handling, it was decided not to sedate the bovine because the stretch of canal they needed to get her across was one of the deepest in the area.
If she was sedated, there was a danger her head could have gone under the water, leading to a dangerous situation for her.
The actions of the cow – busy chewing away – also let Dr Aylett and the firefighters know that she was fairly calm despite her ordeal.
After attaching ropes to the animal, they lowered the cow back into the canal and encouraged her to swim across to the other side. Had she panicked or got stressed at this point, the team would have needed to sedate her so she did not endanger herself or the firefighters who were assisting her.
Once they raised her out of the water, they had the task of getting her down a steep slope so she would be safely back in the field from where she had come from.
They were going to use hay bales to help her make the journey but the cow’s short legs would have made that near impossible to do.
So, instead, they placed her on a board and she effectively ‘sledged’ down the bank and back into the field.
Dr Aylett told The Standard: “Everyone worked very well together to carry out the rescue and it was great to see her back where she belonged – in the field.”
She was still surprisingly calm after all the drama and, after she was given pain relief, medicine for shock and antibiotics because of potential infection from the dirty canal water, the cow was given the all-clear.
