Horse rescue (Warren Police)
by Nancy Shack, WBZ NewsRadio1030
WARREN, Mass. (WBZ NewsRadio) — A combined effort in Warren, Mass. of police, firefighters, highway patrolmen, and local residents saved a horse that fell through the ice into a pond.
Passers-by on Brimfield Road saw the horse almost submerged in the muddy water yesterday afternoon and called police.
Authorities learned he had escaped from his nearby farm earlier in the day and say it was the quick action of a number of by-standers, the Warren highway department, and first responders that got the animal out of the freezing water and saved its life.
The team, made up of three police officers, five residents, and five firefighters, pulled the full size horse out using webbing around it's body attached to the heavy machinery borrowed from the highway department.
Witnesses say the horse was in the water for about 30 minutes. Animal control and a local veterinarian checked out the horse for hypothermia while a neighbor driving by volunteered their horse trailer and blankets.
Officials say the animal is expected to make a full recovery and did not appear to be injured.
A video of the rescue is below.