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Fire crews rescue 2 cows from 2 trees in 1 day

Hayley Chapman 13 June 2016
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The North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service had to rescue two cows, on different farms, both with their head stuck in trees on Sunday (12 June).

The first call to the fire service was made at 12.12pm regarding a cow in a field near Escrick, Selby.

The York and Malton crew responded to the incident with two fire engines, one of which was a specialist large-animal rescue unit.

The cow was freed using hydraulic spreaders and the rescue was complete within 30 minutes of the initial call.

See also: 5 reasons why US ranching is not for the fainthearted

The second incident occurred about two hours later with the fire service receiving another call at 2.35pm concerning a cow with its head trapped.

This time the cow was in a field near Northallerton, North Yorkshire, where it had managed to get its head stuck in a triangular gap at the base of a tree. 

The crew from Northallerton fire station responded and the York and Malton animal rescue unit was also at the scene.

A vet was called and sedated the cow while firefighters used farm machinery and strops to try and release the cow. They managed to free the animal using hand tools, a chainsaw and a DeWalt power saw.

Pictures of the rescue were released on the fire service’s Twitter account. 

A spokesman from the service’s control room said: “The fact that there was two [incidents] next to each other, one after another, is definitely very unusual. They are not a common occurrence.”

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