Depending upon the situation, our team will rescue both pets and farm animals. We clearly place a higher priority on human life, but if we are able to perform a rescue safely for an animal, we will attempt the rescue.

We have successfully rescued two dogs, one over a quarry wall, on a ledge and the other in the middle of a winter storm down a sinkhole. Unfortunately, we have not been as successful with horses; one fell off a trail down an embankment, the other in barn collapse during a tornado. Both had to be euthanized due to the severity of the injuries, length of down time and safety issues.

It is always difficult deciding whether it is worth risking human life to rescue an animal, as no rescue attempt is without risk, but we carefully and with deliberation weigh the risk and what we can do to minimize the risk to our team members.

Certainly no one can fault any individual, Fire/Rescue Officer or team for deciding the risk to human life is not worth taking the risk of a rescue or if the resources are required or better reserved for human life safety.

Pete