Le Figaro Bordeaux
The delicate operation, consisting of saving three cows, lasted more than four hours.
A dozen firefighters, some of whom trained in the management of large animals, were dispatched to the scene after an alert from the owner of the cows.
It required the collaboration of nautical rescue services from the SDIS of Charente-Maritime and Dordogne, which intervened on La Dronne, a river located between the two departments, on Thursday.
Trapped, the first cow had drifted to the La Roche Chalais hydroelectric dam, in Dordogne, where it was stuck.
“Upstream of the dam, on the mountain side, the difference in water height created a suction which stuck the cow against the grid.
Without the dam being cut off and a little help, she would not have been able to free herself,”
explains SDIS 24 to Le
Figaro.
Customized in cow rescues, the Dordogne firefighters had however rarely carried out such an operation.
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A cow reported missing
The second animal was able to be
“brought to safety in a field”
, specify the firefighters, who managed to extract it from the water easily because it was enough to guide it towards the bank.
The third cow had not yet been found this Tuesday, leaving a bitter taste for Captain Loïc Maurin, in charge of operations for SDIS 24, although these two cows were doing well.