The all-night rescue of cow that fell into French home’s swimming pool

Firefighters in a Dordogne village spent almost a whole night rescuing a cow which had fallen and become stuck in a full swimming pool after wandering into a private garden.

The owners of the pool in Saint-Pompon, to the east of Bergerac, were about to go to bed when they heard a cow mooing at around 23:00 on Thursday night (June 9).

They realised what had happened and called the fire and rescue service immediately.

The cow is thought to be one of four which had escaped from an enclosure during the evening and wandered off through the fields.

The firefighters set about emptying the pool so that the animal did not get into difficulty in the water. They then attempted to coax the cow out using a ramp but their efforts were in vain.

Hay was brought to the pool and nine firefighters spent the whole night trying to work out how to get the cow out.

“One of our volunteer firefighters secured a forklift truck from a nearby business, to whom we are very grateful,” the village’s mayor, Carole Henry, told France Bleu.

A vet came to put the cow temporarily to sleep so that it could be lifted out of the pool using a sling.

The cow emerged from the incident safe and sound but the property owners were left with an emptied pool whose lining had been torn by the animal’s hooves and covered in hay and cowpats.

“They are a bit put out,” Ms Henry said.

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