Exhausted donkey rescued from 7ft deep drain by firefighters *PICTURES*
A donkey has been freed from a drain in a rescue operation that took almost five hours.
The donkey, named Noah, fell into a seven-foot storm drain in Heydon, Cambridgeshire, at around 6.30pm on Monday (17 August).
Noah ended up in the drain because metal thieves stole the cover from his field, a stable worker said.
When firefighters and a rescue vehicle arrived at the field, Noah’s head was just above the surface of the water.
Crews pumped the water out of the drain and an digger was used to clear the surrounding area.
Firefighters used shovels to assist the clearance.
Noah was then lifted from the drain using large animal rescue equipment.
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He was exhausted, but not injured, and was left in the care of a vet and his owner.
“We’d like to thank everyone who came to help, particularly the machine driver and veterinary staff for all their great work and support,” said crew commander Jeff Whitlam.
“The crew worked tremendously hard with persistence and professionalism in what was a long and difficult rescue. It was a great team effort with everyone there and thankfully it had a happy ending.”
ISPCA rescue
Last year (28 February, 2014) horseandhound.co.uk reported that a horse had died after becoming trapped in a drain, despite an eight-hour rescue effort by the ISPCA.
The skewbald horse wasdiscovered chest deep in drain water near the Grand Canal in Ireland. She was taken out of the water but was very weak, borderline hypothermic and in very poor physical condition.
The horse was treated by a vet and did show some interest in food, but her condition did not improve and she had to be put down.
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Rachael joined Horse & Hound in 2014, initially as a digital sub editor then became part of the news team as a writer in 2015. The philosophy graduate studied journalism at the Press Association before working as a local reporter at the Brentwood Gazette. Rachael is now a mum of two and still loves all things equestrian, including hacking, dressage and jumping with her cob Bert. Rachael left the H&H staff to go freelance in June 2019, but still contributes to our magazine and website, as well as our sister magazine Country Life, among others.