February 26, 2017 – WASART rescues pets and livestock in emergency situations. If you horse falls down a well or your dog is over a cliff, call 425-681-5498.
Many of us are fortunate and grateful to have this wonderful resource to reach out to. Yesterday, WASART, Washington State Animal Response Team, was contacted to assist with a horse down in its stall. This story is becoming one of the most shared on Facebook, along with the many hero’s of the day.
View the full story and the many images that take readers through the process of of getting Mike on his feet on the WASART Facebook page.
Courtesy of WASART- This afternoon we received a request for assistance with a down horse in Snohomish County. Fortunately much of the team, along with the van, was gathered in Issaquah for a training so it was a much faster deployment than had we all been at home.
Mike the horse went down in his stall sometime last night and struggled to get up. Dr. Ron Colton, of Evergreen Equine 
Veterinary Practice, advised us the horse was on site and we were advised the horse was healthy though tired and was expected to be able to stand once up.
We arrived on scene and split into two groups: one group was to work on getting Mike out of his stall and the other was to work on getting the tripod set up and rigged.
Dr. Colton helped Mike relax throughout the strangers in his stall with some sedative and the horse was patient with our straps and hobbles. The stall team decided to move him out of the barn sooner rather than later, as we were working against the sedative wearing off. The plan was to move Mike onto the glides and pass him out with rear drags or side drags with minimal fuss.
The tripod team took a small break to lend some muscle to the stall team to get Mike out so they could finish rigging him for the lift.
Once the tripod was up and the haul line was ready, we pulled Mike into place under the tripod and attached the quick release bar. The haul team pulled in one smooth pull, and Mike made it up.
Horses tend to relax when suspended and may not even notice they are up, so the team encouraged him to try to stand. Once he was standing, he was able to work some feeling back into his legs. We let him rest a bit and he got a chance to have some hay. Then we released him from the sling and he walked around a bit.
Dr. Colton check him out while he got some attention and more hay. The team cautiously packed up, leaving the tripod up for last in case Mike needed a bit more help.
Mike seemed fine though and we left Mike hanging out in his pasture.
A big thanks to Dr. Colton for jumping in and being awesome to work with, the owner for trusting us with her sweet gelding, and Snohomish County Sheriff’s Office for giving us the okay to help out.
Interested in joining WASART? Check out our website and Facebook page for additional information and photos about us and what we do.
Some of the upcoming workshops include:
Animal Handling & Assessment – March 25th.
Animal Sheltering – April 22nd.
Animal Transport – May 13th.
WASART Open House – August 27th.
We also have our first annual fundraiser, Raise the Hoof, coming up March 11. It’s also our 10th anniversary! Details here: http://washingtonsart.org/raisethehoof
Should you find yourself in need of WASART you will always find them on the NW Equine homepage and in Directory under Emergency Services.