A calf in Co. Antrim has been reunited with its mother following a rescue mission by Northern Ireland Fire and Rescue Service (NIFRS) on Sunday (July 3) to remove it from an outside slurry pit it had fallen into.
Firefighters were called to the calf’s aid on Sunday morning at 9:17a.m. Four appliances attended the incident, which was in the Rasharkin area, Ballymena.
The appliances came from different stations and departments: Ballymena station, Kilrea station, the Large Animal Rescue Team from Omagh and the Specialist Rescue Team from Belfast.
Using slings and reach poles to rescue the calf, the crews had the incident dealt with by 10:49a.m.
Station Commander Alan Barr from Ballymena District praised the efforts and teamwork of all involved.
This is the second animal rescue that NIFRS crews have dealt with in the last number of days.
On June 30, NIFRS Northern Area Command’s Facebook page – which shared the calf story above – described another recent mission to save a sheepdog that went over a cliff edge.
According to the owner, it had been trying to round up an escaped lamb.
This rescue was not only interdepartmental, but multi-agency. Working together were crews from Ballycastle and Coleraine; NIFRS Specialist Rescue Team; Her Majesty’s Coastguard Ballycastle and Coleraine teams; and the Northern Ireland Ambulance Service Hazardous Area Response Team.
The dog’s owner expressed his “deepest thanks” to all the crews that worked to rescue Ben.
“Genuinely thought I had lost a much loved pet and valued worker,” he said.
“Simply amazing what these men and women of the Emergency Services do for us all.”