On Monday, January 23, West Metro Firefighters (Lakewood, Colorado) had a busy day rescuing animals throughout the district.
The first rescue occurred at just after 9am, at the 7800 block of South Cody Street in unincorporated Jefferson County, Colorado. When firefighters arrived on scene, they found Misty Blue, a 31-year-old horse with arthritis, stuck in mud and ice in a two foot deep drainage ditch, lying on its side.
The horse was calm and not injured, just stuck. Jefferson County Sheriffs Deputies and their animal control officers were also on scene assisting Misty trying to free her. Ellen Rickie, DVM, arrived with two assistants from Littleton Large Animal Clinic to assist Misty. Dr. Rickie provided fire fighters with a specialized sling to haul her from the ditch. Once she was pulled from the ditch, she was able to stand up on her own. Her only injury was from a rope abrasion on the rear leg.
During the time of Misty's rescue, another call came in for a beagle that fell through the ice at Maple Grove Reservoir near West 27th and Youngfield Street in Wheat Ridge, Colorado. The beagle was also rescued by West Metro Firefighters.
West Metro responds to about 30 to 70 animal rescue calls a year. Usually the calls are for animals stuck on the ice of a pond or lake.
