Orange County firefighters came to the rescue when a 20-year-old mule named Eli appeared down for the count.
The Orange County Fire Authority captured video of the Trabuco Canyon operation last week. Eli was experiencing life-threatening colic, the agency said on X. Station 18 stepped in when the mule’s owners were unable to get him to stand.
Footage showed the horizontal equine squirming and struggling as a firefighter and a veterinarian assisted him. A crew of firefighters then tied Eli up, flipped him, and hoisted him using a rescue device called a bipod.
According to Sean Doran, a spokesperson for OCFA, that equipment was also used in World War I to roll over upside-down tanks.
“It’s got this incredible capacity and strength,” he said told The Times. “These horses obviously, or mules in this case, are no match for it.”
The firefighters pulled Eli out of his stable before bringing him to his feet. After a bit, he clopped back into his stable, where he is doing much better, the authority’s X post said.
According to the University of Minnesota, horses and other equines are naturally prone to colic. Allowing the animal to walk around can help ease pain, the university said. Doran said that Eli, lying down, wasn’t able to pass food and was at risk of his organs compressing. Had he not been hoisted upright, the colic could have been fatal, he said.
Doran said he watched the rescue happen on Friday and visited Eli again on Sunday. He spoke with one of the owners, an animal lover who had owned Eli for almost all of the mule’s life. Everything about the rescue was “just goodness, pure goodness,” he said.
He also said that OCFA firefighters had been trained to conduct large-animal rescues with horses. In addition to routine rescue skills, they learn how to approach the horses and to interpret how they need to be treated depending on the situation.
“It’s seamless teamwork in action,” he said.
