Firefighters use telehandler to rescue cows from slurry pit

Four cows stuck in a slurry pit on a farm in Cumbria were pulled to safety by firefigthers in a dramatic rescue operation involving the farmer’s telehandler last weekend.

The cows had fallen about two metres through the entrance to the pit and were trapped.

See also: Firefighters rescue four cows trapped in slurry pit

Firefighters pumped the slurry from the pit and were able to winch all four cows to safety.

Cumbria Fire and Rescue Service sent three crews to the farm, near Biglands, in the early hours of Saturday 16 October.

A statement from the fire service said: “At approximately 5.25am, appliances from Carlisle East, Carlisle West and Wigton were mobilised to reports of cows stuck in a slurry pit, at a farm near Biglands.

© Cumbria Fire and Rescue Service

“In attendance, crews discovered four cows had fallen approximately two metres through the entrance to a slurry pit, and were stuck below ground.

“Crews used farm machinery to remove the slurry from the pit, and all four cows were successfully brought to safety by specially trained animal rescue technicians, using animal rescue strops and a farm telehandler.”