Rescuers Save Life of Calf Found Trapped in Sink Hole

By Amanda Thomason December 20, 2018 at 10:03am

Animals are lovely creatures, but just like people, they can be unaware of their surroundings or just make poor decisions. This calf found himself in an odd predicament because of something like that and ended up in a sinkhole.

The hole was in Lincoln County, Kentucky, and was around 20 feet deep, according to WLEX-TV. It was narrow enough that it would have been difficult to haul him back up — plus, he was not a small calf.

He was discovered at 12:30 p.m. and the Large Animal Rescue crew showed up shortly afterward to help him out of the pickle he’d gotten himself into.

They posted about the ordeal on Dec. 9, explaining their response, the reason for their response along with photos of the involved rescue.

“Large Animal Rescue (L.A.R.) in Lincoln Co. Lexington crews as a part of a KLAER request to get a calf out of a sinkhole,” the Facebook post began.

Have you ever witnessed an animal rescue?

“Crews from Lincoln Co, Lexington (R-1, E-8, & 202) and Jessamine County responded. The animal was removed and is Back running in the fields.

“Question is always asked, why does the FD respond to these type of incidents? Answer: we would rather use our skill and abilities to Rescue this animal safely vs. a less skilled person trying and getting injured.”

“Crews had to use many tactics to bench, slope, secure and make sure the “hole” was safe of further collapse before rescuing the animal.

“These incidents don’t come around that often but this is the second one this week for L.A.R. in our area.”

It’s best to leave these kinds of rescues to the professionals for the same reason it’s best to leave many rescues to the professionals: Those who aren’t trained or don’t have the right gear could do more damage than good, both to themselves and others.

As difficult as it is to stand by and watch, that’s also why it’s better not to attempt to rescue a pet who has fallen through the ice on a large body of water. Without the proper gear, you could easily succumb to the same fate, necessitating two rescues instead of the one.

Fortunately, there are groups out there who will lend a helping hand in these sorts of situations, rescuing kittens from trees, pulling dogs from frozen ponds and — apparently — freeing calves from pits in the ground.

Submit a Correction →