Firefighters in Northern Ireland had to employ a number of unorthodox measures to rescue a lamb that was trapped underground.
Members of the Northern Ireland Fire and Rescue Service (NIFRS) were called out to a rescue on February 16 where a two-week-old lamb fell through a manhole cover.
The lamb then became trapped several metres down a narrow horizontal pipe, which was several feet underground, according to a post on the NIFRS West Facebook page.
Up to five firefighters from the Fintona Station in Co. Tyrone arrived on the scene and were faced with ‘a bit of a head scratcher’ as to how to rescue the lamb.
The team’s Crew Commander, tried his best ‘mother sheep impression‘ in an effort to the coax the animal back up the pipe.
Posted by NIFRS West on Thursday, February 16, 2017
According to the post this method had limited success, so the crew members turned to modern technology and used a phone app to imitate sheep sounds to coax it out.
Despite this method getting the lamb to turn around and come back up the pipe, the lamb remained out of touching distance.
The crew then took the decision to call in local sheep farmer Harold Crawford and his trained sheep dog, which went up the pipe and retrieved the lamb and brought it to safety.
The NIFRS also assured the public that both members and the fire appliance was available for emergencies throughout the rescue.
“Usually when we post about incidents like this we attract the occasional comment about waste of resources etc, so just to assure everyone that the appliance was available for emergencies throughout.
“We liaise with other agencies, such as the Ulster Society Prevention Cruelty to Animals, and an officer attends incidents such as this to assess, we only commit resources if it is warranted,” the Facebook post said.
