ADVERTISEMENT:

 

Farm manager Mr Jopie van der Berg and a farm labourer struggle to get the highly agitated cow cornered in an attempt to rescue her from a possible watery grave. Photo supplied.

Epic struggle to save cow from drowning

 

Members of the Louis Trichardt SPCA were involved in an epic struggle on Monday to save the life of a young cow that had fallen into a cement water dam.

The drama unfolded on the farm Nooitgedacht along the Vivo road. According to local animal inspector Mr Lawrence Khodobo, they received a phone call from the farm manager, Mr Jopie van der Berg, at around 15:00, requesting assistance to get a stray cow out of one of their cement dams. The cow was noticed inside the dam earlier that morning, but the farm workers’ attempt to get it out proved fruitless. Apparently, the thirsty cow strayed onto the farm, noticed the dam and wanted to drink water. She fell into the 1,8m-deep dam, however. The owner of the cow is unknown as it is not branded and only has an ear tag.

“We rushed out to the farm and, upon arrival, saw that we had our work cut out for us. The cow was standing up to her neck in the water, but the cement wall was too steep for her to merely climb out again. We realised that we had to construct some kind of ramp to get the cow out again,” said Lawrence.

Making use of some scrap metal sheets lying around, the farm workers braved the cold water to set up the ramp. In the meantime, members of the local fire brigade, Messrs M J Makondo and J M Selepe, were also quick to respond and came to assist.

Building the ramp was one thing, but getting the cow to notice that this was actually her escape route was another thing. 

“The cow was very agitated with us, but it would seem that she later realised that we were trying help. We herded her to the ramp, put a rope around her neck and then gently eased her onto the ramp. Brute muscle power was then needed when she came to the top of the ramp to finally pull her over the wall and out of the dam,” said Lawrence. The whole rescue expedition lasted about three hours.

Finally out of harm's way, the cow seemed relieved, said Lawrence. “At first I thought she was going to fight with us, but she stood quite still to allow us to remove the rope from her neck. She then rejoined her herd,” said Lawrence.

Lawrence said the cow had not suffered any injuries, apart from being fatigued. “We were very relieved that we were able to save the animal. At some stage, we were starting to lose hope, but everyone kept on going,” said Lawrence.

Lawrence expressed his sincere thanks towards the farm manager, his workers and the members of the fire brigade for their valued assistance. "It was not even their own cow, but they still helped until the cow was finally rescued." Ms Bea Reimer, local SPCA manager, also commended the farm personnel and fire brigade, with special reference to Lawrence and Mr Patrick Mutandari, also from the local SPCA. “I take my hat off to these people for the great work they are doing,” she said.

News - Date: 22 August 2014

Recent Articles

Search for a story:

 
 

ADVERTISEMENT

 

Andries van Zyl

Andries joined the Zoutpansberger and Limpopo Mirror in April 1993 as a darkroom assistant. Within a couple of months he moved over to the production side of the newspaper and eventually doubled as a reporter. In 1995 he left the newspaper group and travelled overseas for a couple of months. In 1996, Andries rejoined the Zoutpansberger as a reporter. In August 2002, he was appointed as News Editor of the Zoutpansberger, a position he holds until today.

Email: [email protected]

ADVERTISEMENT: