CALLOUT 38 – Call to assist with stranded sheep

Yesterday afternoon (12:40 8/12/22) the team was contacted through Lancashire Police to assist Lancashire Fire and Rescue Service (Official) with a sheep 🐑 that had become stuck on a ledge at Scout Moor Quarry.

With this report, it wasn’t a happy ending so if you don’t like baaaad and saaaad stories please stop reading now! We won’t be pulling any wool over your eyes today, but may add a few puns in for good measure… just one or two maybe!

The farmer had reported this after the sheep had been stuck for nearly a week and although still moving about and eating what was left on the ledge, it simply had nowhere to go… Things were already looking baaaaaad, but we all know accidents wool happen, so we were happy to go and see if we could assist.

The team was deployed and met with the fire and rescue at the quarry, before being guided by the farmer to the location above the stranded sheep. Once an assessment was made, we got the required rope kit along with our Polaris ATV to the top of the quarry to set up a rope system to protect someone to get a better view and make a practical assessment.

Now, Ewe would think it should be simple, but being on the edge of the quarry there was a lot of loose rocks, the slightest movement, even of the ropes was sending rocks down, and based on this assessment, and agreement with the fire service, things turned from baaad to worse for our woolly friend… It was simply not worth the risk (and likelihood) of someone being injured whilst trying to assist due to a rock fall over the edge.

We were sorry to go and leave it, but at the end of the day, we do have to look at a situation and decide if it is safe to commit our team members to these hazards. We handed this back over to the farmer who was going to deal with it accordingly to ensure the sheep did not suffer any more than needed.