Donkey rescued from icy pond reportedly doing well
A donkey rescued from an icy pond by emergency services Friday, Jan. 24, is reportedly doing well.
A resident called around 6:30 p.m. Friday to ask for help getting the family’s donkey out of a pond in the 7600 block of Franklin Road.
“It’s a life. That’s what matters,” said Scott Garing, Cranberry Township chief of fire and emergency services.
Garing said the residents treated the donkey like a family member, including calling it one of their “kids.”
He said the donkey was about 50 feet from shore and remained mostly calm around rescue crews.
Even without experience rescuing large animals, Garing said there was risk the family may have attempted a rescue and hurt themselves if emergency services hadn’t responded.
With large-animal rescue experience, Garing offered Cranberry Township fire Lt. Corey McGlaughin resources and was happy with how his firefighters handled the incident.
Multiple teams from the Cranberry Township Volunteer Fire Company responded and requested assistance from both the Butler County Water Rescue Team and the Beaver County Large Animal Rescue Squad.
Water rescue arrived to calm and harness the 650-pound donkey before using a rope system to pull it out. Trucks couldn’t get close enough to the water due to the icy conditions, so a sled was used to pull the donkey off the ice to a warm area.
According to a weekend Facebook post by the Cranberry Township VFC, crews were on the scene for about 90 minutes.
The post said the donkey is doing well.
