Three people and 80 animals stranded by rising floodwaters near San Antonio, New Mexico were brought to safety on Oct. 28, after rescuers spent nearly four hours catching and carrying 78 goats, a mule and a dog onto boats one at a time. The operation unfolded in Socorro County east of San Antonio, where thick vegetation along the swollen Rio Grande slowed the work and made it impossible for crews to move the herd together.
A Painstaking, Goat-By-Goat Operation
According to Organ Mountain News, the rescue ran from about 10 a.m. to roughly 1:50 p.m. and involved 10 New Mexico National Guard members working alongside an Oklahoma swiftwater rescue team known as Task Force 3. “The final count was 80 animals — 78 goats, one mule and one dog — and three adults brought to safety,” the outlet reported. Rescuers individually caught, carried and loaded all 78 goats into boats, since the animals could not be herded together through the muddy terrain.
As first reported by The Cool Down, the three adults being rescued had been out helping the animals when floodwaters cut off their escape. Oklahoma Task Force 3 specializes in swiftwater rescue, and its specialists worked with Army and Air National Guard personnel during the mission. Units involved reportedly included the 919th Military Police Company, the New Mexico Medical Detachment, the 1209th Medical Company Area Support, the 150th Maintenance Squadron, the 150th Medical Group, the 642nd Support Maintenance Company and the 920th Engineer Construction Company, with engineering, medical, maintenance and military police personnel all contributing to the San Antonio rescue.
Guard Leader Praises Teamwork Amid Unpredictable Disaster
Maj. Gen. Miguel Aguilar said three New Mexicans and 80 animals were safe after teamwork with the Oklahoma swiftwater rescue partners, framing the mission as evidence that disaster response often brings the unexpected. The San Antonio rescue was part of broader National Guard work assisting first responders and local emergency management agencies across New Mexico during the flooding, the same account noted. The Guard also shared photographs on Facebook showing personnel standing in deep, muddy water beside a military vehicle, and the rescued herd earned an affectionate nickname from the Guard: the Bleat Brigade. One commenter online praised the commitment, patience and effort it took to handle so many skeptical goats.
Weeks Of Flooding Have Strained Socorro County
The San Antonio evacuation followed several weeks of unusually heavy rainfall in New Mexico, per Organ Mountain News, and the goat rescue was only one piece of a much larger flood response across Socorro County. High water in the Rio Grande closed the Highway 380 bridge and left evacuees unable to return home, according to KOB 4. Officials evacuated homes in the Escondida area because of high water, and crews carried out a separate water rescue just south of Escondida. Residents of Escondida, Pueblito and San Francisco needed rescue and evacuation assistance as the broader flood response continued.
Socorro County Emergency Manager Fred Berger told the station that multiple livestock died during the flooding event. KOB 4's reporting on a related rescue described Tulsa Fire Department crews saving 79 goats the day before a Thursday search for stranded cattle, with one crew member saying, “We did rescue 79 of them yesterday. It was a lot of work, we had three boats out there.” That account also described the animals saved by Tulsa crews as including a donkey, while Organ Mountain News identified a single mule among the 80 animals rescued near San Antonio — accounts that differ on some animal details even as they describe the same flood emergency.
Oklahoma Crews Answered Calls Across The Flood Zone
New Mexico's flooding drew in multiple out-of-state rescue teams. KFOR reported that Oklahoma Task Force Three evacuated eight people and 11 dogs from a small community that had been cut off from outside help, with New Mexico National Guard members guiding the team as close as possible before it hiked in on foot. Separately, a Tulsa swiftwater team found cows stranded by floodwaters, brought them hay overnight and moved them to dry land the next morning, according to Yahoo News, with crews planning to keep caring for the herd until it could be moved safely.
