AnimalRescue

Jul 22 2014

Incident 72/2014 – Winter Hill

At 17:57 this evening we were contacted by the North West Ambulance Service (Air Desk) with the initial report of two walkers and some sheep apparently stuck in the marshes on the track between Rivington Pike and Winter Hill.

As team members began to respond to our vehicle bases and to the general vicinity of the incident, Deputy Team Leader Chris Greenhalgh obtained further details from the NWAS Air Desk.

The first responding team vehicle left our Ladybridge Hall Base/HQ at 18:13 and traveled to the summit mast road on Winter Hill, whereupon they met up with colleagues from Greater Manchester Fire & Rescue service, who were also responding to the same incident, and also to the report of two stuck and sinking sheep! Other team vehicles responded to this location and also to the base of Rivington Pike, with a view to finding the incident site on the 1.5 sq km of moorland lying between Rivington Pike & Winter Hill.

The GMFRS resouces attending included the Water Incident Unit from Eccles, who have specialist equipment and training for animal rescue incidents.

 

The two unfortunates!
The two unfortunates!

Also attending were colleagues from the North West Ambulance Service’s Hazardous Area Response Team, accompanied by their Polaris 6WD off-road vehicle.

Fortunately it quickly was established that the walkers were no longer in any danger and the incident turned to the recovery of the ovine pair, well stuck in the deep mud on the moor, and probably a feeling a little sheepish….. groan… sorry!

 

With team member Dave Cook on scene with the unstuck walkers and stuck sheep, all BMRT, GMFRS and NWAS resources were redirected to the area known as the “old toilet block” at the base of Rivington Pike. With team members and vehicles escorting NWAS and GMFRS onto the moor, providing local area knowledge and access through the locked gates, the sheep were soon extracted from of the peat bog in which they lay in a joint GMFRS / BMRT operation (we’ll not go into detail as to who was doing the pushing and who was doing the pulling).

All said and done, all resources left the moor and were stood down at around 19:40.

 

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Jul 6 2014

Incident 68/2014 – Injured Dog

Whilst in the teams area, this warm and sunny afternoon, parked up at Lower House Car Park, Rivington, our Team Leader Garry Rhodes MBE and colleague team member Steve Fletcher, in our Incident Control Vehicle BM6, was approached by a father and his young son at circa 16.00hrs asking whether we had keys to a nearby locked gate giving access to the hillside Terraced Gardens, Rivington.

The man explained his dog had jumped over the side wall of ‘Seven Arch Bridge’ in the Terraced Gardens, and fallen vertically some twenty feet, sustaining injuries to its left side and flanks and possible leg fractures.

Using our access keys, the man in his 4WD vehicle with Steve Fletcher with him, drove up the hillside track, meeting up with his wife and daughter who had stayed with their injured pet dog, alongside their other pet dog.

Steve decided in view of the dogs injuries, an 8 month old, Black Labrador Bitch, called Bramble, it would be smoother to stretcher evacuate the dog back down the stone surfaced and potholed track, than drive it down.

Our Land Rover BM2 with Mike O’Brien, and Land Rover BM3 with Mike Marsh and Ged Clarke, then also arrived to assist.

Bramble was placed on to one of our casualty lifting sheets, and then carried back down the rough hillside track, on one of our SAR Alpine Lite Mountain Rescue Stretchers.

Here Bramble, at 16.40hrs was transferred in to the families vehicle, from where they they set off to an emergency veterinary practice near their Rufford, Merseyside home.

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Jul 14 2013

Incident 83/2013

At 20.38hrs this evening, our Team Leader Garry Rhodes MBE was contacted directly by the GMP Force Duty Officer, to request the teams assistance with the recovery of a large dog, from down a wooded slope on the fringe of the local moors, which had been injured in an RTC.

The dog had been injured much earlier, and the owners had tried without success to seek assistance from a number of agencies to rescue the dog from the bottom of the slope.

With the involvement of a passing GMP patrol, the team was quickly contacted and our Team Leader agreed to lend the teams assistance.

A ‘limited numbers required’ full team call out was paged at 21.05hrs, though already at this time, pre notified by our Team Leader, our Deputy Team Leader Geoff Seddon and very experienced team member Mike Marsh were already on scene.

The dog, an eight month old, male Alaskan Malamute, had been struck by a car, and was found at the bottom of the wooded valley side of High Shores Clough, in the vicinity of Walker Fold Farm, on Walker Fold Road / Colliers Row, Walker Fold, Bolton.

A Vet from Animal Trust on Castle Street, Bolton, attended the scene, arriving with our first team members.

The dog was treated by the Vet for suspected spinal injuries, leg and paw injuries, and was given drugs for sedation and pain relief.

With the arrival of the first of our two responding Land Rover Ambulances at 21.20hrs, the large dog was gently placed onto the split half of our Basket Stretcher, and carried back up the slope to the Vets Estate car for onward transport to Animal Trust on Castle Street, Bolton.

By 21.35hrs we had completed all taskings on scene, and we departed back for home, with most of us suffering from multiple midge bites and nettle stings! (Ah the joys of summer evenings!)

In total fifteen Bolton MRT Call Out list members attended, and two of our Land Rovers.

The two involved GMP Officers were from GMP Astley Bridge Police Station.

Update as of Monday 15t July; Our Team Leader understands from the dogs owner today that the dog has a confirmed spiral leg fracture and possible abdominal injuries.

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