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UC Davis Crew rescue horse
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ask Holistic Horse
UC Davis Crew rescue horse
horse rescue effort
On October 2, approximately 3:45 PM, a trail horse slipped, fell and then wedged into a large fractured boulder on the Looney Ridge Trail near Five Per Cent in Folsom Lake SRA. Despite struggling to free itself, the horse, a three year old Rocky Mountain Gaited Horse named Mocha, was unable to dislodge herself from the split boulder.
911 was called, as well as the Folsom Lake SRA Mounted Trail Patrol members and Folsom Lake SRA Rangers. Emergency personnel from the South Placer Fire Department and Placer Animal Control arrived at approximately 4:15 PM after negotiating a steep descent into the area the horse was trapped. None of the departments had the resources to save the horse, so the U.C. Davis Emergency Veterinarian Response Team (VERT) was called in by the Folsom Lake Mounted Patrol. Dr. Ellis and Dr. Madigan brought their VERT team, ropes, tackle, straps, skids and their expertise. They also had to negotiate the very steep terrain. Within 15 minutes, at about sundown, the straps were placed around Mocha, the ropes rigged, and about 30 people helped pull the 900 lb. horse from her predicament.
They carefully extricated Mocha, lifted her another 60 feet to a flat area, and allowed her to regain her feet and stand. She was then treated for shock and abrasions by the U.C. Davis VERT vets. The personnel from Folsom Lake SRA cleared a trail, and using light sticks, guided the horse to safety and a trailer to take her home.
Today, two days later, Mocha is resting in her stall at Boarding on the Lake, as good as new, with her owner very grateful for all the help given by emergency personnel.
From the U.C. Davis VERT website:
"The Veterinary Emergency Response Team (VERT) is comprised of faculty, resident veterinarians, veterinary students and staff from the School of Veterinary Medicine at UC Davis. They operate on a volunteer-basis, training our membership in large animal rescue techniques and serving our community with education in large animal rescue and pet disaster preparedness.
VERT is able to provide technical assistance in animal rescue within a defined geographic area when local veterinary attempts have proven ineffective. All requests for assistance must come from a veterinarian at the scene. VERT student and technician volunteers provide not only their clinical experience with animals, but also have basic training in the Incident Command System (ICS) allowing our team to integrate into multiagency disaster scenes effectively.
In January of 2008, the UC Davis VERT expanded to become part of the Medical Reserve Corps (MRC), a civilian volunteer organization sponsored by the Office of the Surgeon General. As a MRC, we can be mobilized for large-scale human health response, such as wide-scale vaccination in an epidemic, and to provide assistance with animals in national disasters.
VERT can also be requested to assist in animal-related incidents by other veterinarians and official agencies, such as the Police and Fire Departments."
If you would like to know more about the U.C. Davis VERT,