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Story: Jackie Bellamy-Zions

The unfortunate disasters in Alberta, California, and Florida clearly show that many people were willing to go to great lengths to rescue their animals -- many risking serious personal injury or worse. When any disaster strikes, an “incident involving animals” can quickly become an “incident involving people who are trying to save the animals”. The public has strong expectations when it comes to animal welfare and proper training for emergency rescue of large animals is a crucial element. First responders in Ontario now have an increased level of knowledge thanks to over 30 keen, hardy participants and an experienced team of trainers.

Presented by Equine Guelph and the Meaford Fire Department, Nov 17 – 19, the large animal rescue course covered many topics including animal behavior in stressful situations and how to keep handlers and first responders safe. Attention was also paid to keeping the people who own and care deeply about their animals out of harm’s way. Major topics covered included best practices for large animal technical rescue, fire prevention plus personal safety and related animal behavior and care issues.

“We feel strongly that this training is of benefit for all fire departments to help their communities, and we are very proud of the strong relationship that Equine Guelph has developed with Chief Granahan and the Meaford Fire Department and Training Centre so that this training can be offered and developed," says Gayle Ecker, director of Equine Guelph. “The facility at Meaford is excellent and we had a wonderful team of instructors and support crew.”

Classic Towing made $1.25 million worth of equipment available for the course plus very experienced tow operators including the well-known Bubba Semple from the TV show Heavy Rescue 401. McKinnon Transport brought a livestock hauler. Allan McKinnon and Bubba Semple both took part in class presentations explaining the capabilities of their equipment and safety aspects of hauling animals.

“All large animal incidents regardless of cause or scope, present a risk of injury to responders,” says course facilitator, Dr. Susan Raymond. “Through proper training and the use of specialized rescue equipment we significantly mitigate these risks and improve the odds of a favorable outcome for both animals and responders. By keeping responders safe, we improve our capacity to keep animals safe.”