JimS - 11/30/2025 21:40

I’m part of my department’s Animal Technical Rescue (ATR) unit.

We have gotten horses out of ravines, drainages, mud flats, rolled over trailers, elderly down horses up, a horse stuck in the lower level of a grain elevator, pigs out of drainages, sewers, and drains, various animals out of sewers, and many other scenarios.

Most team members are rope techs and confined space techs in addition to completing an ATR course. It’s something we are very serious about.

In addition to these calls, the department as a whole has been called for a small frog in a bathtub, snakes on or along park trails, and numerous other odd things.

Are these things a pain? Yes and no. It is better to be called and it not be an emergency than to chastise people for calling for stupid reasons and they don’t call early or at all and it is an emergency. On the other hand, it keeps our skill levels up and us sharp.

The other down side is while we are removing an inch long frog, there may be someone who really needs us. We have excellent coverage, so that scenario isn’t very likely.

We are here to serve. These people pay for our department in every way. We have great respect for our community.