The Highlander
New Member
- Joined
- Mar 16, 2007
- Messages
- 8,235
- Reaction score
- 1
Firefighters in the western Minnesota town of Underwood weren't quite sure what to expect when they got the call: A donkey had fallen down an abandoned well and was trapped.
An unusual rescue operation followed. Firefighters quickly realized that the donkey, which belonged to a farmer named Warren Gundberg, couldn't just be pulled from the well. So they started pulling away earth with a Bobcat tractor and dismantling the well block by block.
Once the west wall of the well was dismantled, firefighters put a harness around the donkey and guided it out with a rope.
Underwood Fire Chief Bruce Huseth says he's rescued cows who've fallen through the ice, but never a trapped donkey. He says it appeared the donkey wandered away from its farm and onto some boards covering the well, which broke.
The donkey had some bruises but is otherwise fine.
(Copyright 2007 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
A donkey is happily eating grass again after falling down a dry, abandoned well and being freed in an intensive rescue effort. It appeared that the animal wandered away from its farm and onto some boards covering the well, which broke, said Bruce Huseth, fire chief in this western Minnesota town.
Firefighters quickly realized that the animal, which belongs to farmer Warren Gundberg, couldn't just be pulled from the abandoned well on Bryan Nelson's land.
So they started pulling away earth with a tractor and dismantling the well block by block Thursday. Once one wall had been taken apart, firefighters put a harness around the donkey and guided it out with a rope.
''Whatever it takes,'' Nelson said as he watched his well come down. ''I love animals, and I'm just glad it's OK.''
Gundberg admonished the animal after the rescue: ''I bet you'll think twice about doing that again. If you would have stayed home you wouldn't be in this trouble.''
Huseth said that he has rescued cows that have fallen through ice, but that the donkey was a first.
I am really happy to know that it was rescued.