NEAR RICHMOND, Ohio --
With its head barely above the water and while it struggled to stay alive, rescuers saved a dairy cow that fell through ice into a pond Wednesday in Jefferson County.
The cow -- named Annibel -- was freed with the help of firefighters from Richmond using boats from Brilliant and Toronto -- as well as a lot of manpower.
The cow's owner, Lois Ramsey, said she had seen cows walk out onto the ice before and put them back in the barn. She said she thinks watching the other cows is what prompted 5-year-old Annibel to wander out on the frozen water.
Firefighters arrived at the scene a very short time after the incident and freed the cow in about an hour.
"She was giving up there towards the end. We had to give her a good push and a tug to get her out, but she ended up coming out. She is walking up through the field now, so she should be all right," said Dan Shaffer, a Richmond volunteer firefighter.
"I am just thankful that the cow was saved and I am grateful to the Richmond Fire Department for coming to her rescue. It was one of our favorite cows, so I don't know what I would of done if something would have happened to her," Ramsey said.
Annibel wasn't the only life the Fire Department saved. The cow is pregnant and is expected to give birth within the next two weeks.
"It's always good when you have a happy ending," Shaffer said.
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