Community unites over Drummond cow’s plight

A DAIRY cow, Molly, is still recovering from her ordeal after she fell down a six-metre cliff and was trapped in a ravine for three days in Drummond.

Early on Saturday, 3 October, the cow’s owner, Roland Pardey, was alerted by his animal minder to the fact that Molly had lost her footing on a path leading to the neighbour’s grazing land and was hanging off a cliff above a dry earth dam.

Within minutes of putting out an alert, community members and SACAN arrived with straps and rope to help the distressed animal, but she slipped and landed hard at the bottom of the cliff.

Fears that she was dead were soon alleviated and a resident vet on maternity leave, Megan Wassung, arrived to assess and treat Molly. Although there were no broken bones and only a few abrasions, she was in shock and wouldn’t stand up.

“Rescuetech set-up a jury-rig and winched her up to check if we could get her to stand and hopefully walk out, but no such luck. In such cases, shock can endure for a week or more,” explained Pardey.

Molly received attention all weekend in the dry-dam and was eventually eating but not drinking. Drips were administered and she was kept hydrated with damp sacks against the heat and humidity. She also had to be turned regularly to ensure circulation.

“The support from all quarters was overwhelming and Lovemore Construction even offered a crane-truck to extricate her via the rail-line some 15 metres away. Various options were considered.”

Phezulu’s Tristan Dickerson called on Molly regularly in his free time over the weekend and on Monday morning he arrived with a team and extracted her with a TLB, placing her safely into a stable, where she was treated further.

“Molly and her calf Bella are re-united and happily munching away together. I will need to hire a winch soon to enable Molly to be raised periodically until she finds her feet again. We will persevere relentlessly and hold thumbs for this tenacious mum,” said her grateful owner.