The calf is brought to the surface safe and sound by the CFA's specialist underground rescue unit.
CFA crews staged an udderly remarkable rescue last weekend after a young calf fell down an abandoned mineshaft in Yarck.
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The Oscar Rescue Support Unit was alerted to a calf in distress at 8.57am on Saturday, February 1.
Upon arrival crews found the calf trapped about 20m underground.
Using a carefully rigged rope system and a harness, rescue personnel worked together over about three hours to steer the operation to success.
Remarkably the young calf was completely uninjured.
Oscar Fire Brigade 1st Lieutenant Karl Shay praised the team’s coordination and problem-solving skills in handling the tricky rescue.
“It was fairly complex situation, before we could get down the shaft to reach the animal we needed to remove a stump that was blocking the entrance,” Karl said.
A CFA crew member is lowered into the mineshaft at Yarck in search of the trapped calf.
“I think the calf knew we were there to help, it was very calm throughout the whole process.
“Once we got the ropes on, we were able to safely bring the calf to safety.
“It’s not every day you get called to a rescue like this, but we’ll always be there when needed, whether it’s for people, property or livestock.”
The exhausted calf was safely reunited with its very relieved mum.
Karl said the rescue served as a timely reminder to the community to always call for help in situations like this and leave things to the trained professionals.
“Obviously these types of situations can be very distressing for pet and livestock owners. But in this situation the family involved made the correct decision to call 000 and wait for help to arrive.”
Oscar 1 is a volunteer technical rescue team based in Bendigo, but operates statewide and is the only CFA brigade with underground mine and tunnel rescue capability.
It took about three hours to free the trapped calf.
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