In Santa Barbara County, firefighters showed true grit as they worked tirelessly to rescue a cow stuck in mud up to its neck on a ranch in Goleta Monday afternoon. The ordeal lasting nearly five hours was resolved when the cow, belonging to the breed known as "Rovey" Swiss alp, was finally freed from the muck's grasp at Dos Pueblo Ranch.
The ensnared bovine was spotted by ranchers around 4:20 p.m., as reported by CBS News Los Angeles. Contacting officials for aid, the bovid seemed, according to firefighters, on the brink of collapse after struggling in the deep sludge for close to 24 hours.
With ingenuity and physical toil, rescue crews labored, utilizing wooden planks for leverage, and dug around the besieged cow to facilitate its extraction. They received backup from Santa Barbara County animal control, who also assisted in the rescue effort.
Firing up the social media wire, Santa Barbara County Fire Department spokesperson Scott Safechuck shared details of the daring rescue on X, formerly Twitter, on Tuesday. "A 'Ronvey' Swiss alp cow was discovered trapped in mud by ranchers," Safechuck said, as per the post highlighted by KTLA. The discrepancy in the cow's name across reports only added a layer of confusion to an already muddled situation.
Nonetheless, the community breathed a collective sigh of relief as Rovey or Ronvey—by any name—was delivered back to solid ground. The incident accentuates the array of unforeseen perils that farm animals face and the life-saving role of the region's first responders.
