Alberta’s leadership in handling livestock emergencies is being held up as a model for the rest of the continent while some of the actual incidents are shown as examples of how badly things can really go.
Rebecca Gimenez-Husted, founder of Georgia-based TLAER (Technical Large Animal Emergency Rescue), provided an overview of her experience in livestock rescue to members and supporters of Alberta Farm Animal Care at its annual conference in Olds on March 21.
She included a disclaimer at the beginning, warning of graphic photos, difficult ideas, offensive comments and terminal solutions.
“I actually talk about AFAC a lot, for a lot of reasons, as I go around the world, because of AFAC and the things that they do for animal welfare and care. It turns out that what’s really important is how we all work together and make this thing happen,” said Gimenez-Husted, showing a slide of a large critter deeply mired in mud and a group of people trying figure out how to save it. Depending on your expertise and the resources available, a decision may have to be made about whether an animal can be saved or if rescue attempts could kill it or cause further and potentially fatal injury.
“In large animal rescue, we talk a lot about human factors. It’s not the cow, the pig, or the horse that’s in the mud. It’s how we come together as human beings to make this work,” she said.
“We talk a lot about animal welfare, but we also have to talk about people welfare. I don’t want you in that trailer trying to get animals out and you get hurt.”
Much of that comes down to evaluation of risk and understanding of best practices.”

She showed another slide of a rollover involving a semi hauling hives of live bees near Camrose.
“Who do you call when you’ve got 30 million bees in the middle of the road? It happens.”
She also questioned complicated efforts at solving simple problems, like using a helicopter lift to rescue a bull that could have been lured to safety with a bucket of oats.
Gimenez-Husted also showed slides of people digging paths through mud and snow so animals could walk out on their own rather than attempting stressful and expensive aerial lifts.
“It looks sexy and, I promise you, it will make the news. It looks cool, and I’m standing here saying no, no, no, don’t do it.”
In one of the events she cited, a specially equipped helicopter was hired at $8,000 to rescue a horse that had been trapped and injured during a trail ride. Once safe on dry ground, the horse had to be euthanized because of a tendon injury it had suffered during the initial mishap.
“I would have preferred, for his welfare that we didn’t do that in the first place.”
People attempting to save animals put themselves in grave danger when they don’t understand the risks to their personal safety. Gimenez-Husted said it is essential, therefore, that emergency crews involved in rescuing animals have training, equipment and contingency plans so that each attempt is grounded in an understanding of animal behaviour and the variety of risks to people involved in assisting a large, frightened and potentially exhausted animal.
It’s crucial, when animals are loose on the highway after a collision, to have law enforcement properly engaged in the rescue, said Gimenez-Husted. For example, a veterinarian will likely be needed at the scene to assess injuries and euthanize animals that cannot be saved. Law enforcement needs to ensure that the vet can get past the inevitable traffic jam to tend to those animals, she said.
A well-considered disaster plan is essential to protect animals and people from further harm, said Gimenez-Husted.
In Alberta, the most likely scenarios involve fires and flooding, she said, showing a picture of a woman riding one horse and ponying another away from the Fort McMurray fire in 2016.
“Does your community have a plan? In California last year, people let their horses go. Is that a plan?”
Relating more closely to people with intensive livestock farms, she asked what containment is available on site in case animals must be evacuated from a burning barn. Gimenez-Husted demonstrated the futility of trying to lead animals out of one stall or room at a time. Fire moves so quickly, the only chance for the animals is if the entire building can be evacuated quickly.

Addressing that issue afterward, Brent Bushell, general manager of Western Hog Exchange (WHE), said most hog facilities do not have outside containment, so there is nothing to stop pigs from running off in the event of an evacuation. He raised the issue of obstacles outside the barn that may injure animals and impede an emergency response.
Gimenez-Husted also addressed the issue of roof collapse and the efforts producers need to make to ensure that their barns are safe and stable, showing yet another slide of an incident at a riding arena in Alberta.
“Just about the time they got the animals and people out, the entire thing collapsed,” she said.
“There’s got to be something going on, because this was a well-constructed building. I’ve got hundreds of pictures of dairy barns, horse barns, livestock barns that have collapsed like this. Are we just not paying attention? Is it something that we think doesn’t happen very often?
“It’s not just that it kills livestock – it costs a lot of money and it’s difficult to get those animals out when they’re underneath.”
She said the biggest obstacle to animal rescue is the well-meaning effort of untrained bystanders who put themselves and others in harm’s way because they don’t know what to do. Resolving that issue comes down to having an Incident Action Plan, which includes a clear line of command with proper instruction for bystanders who want to get involved.
Enlisting their help can be as simple as getting the animals some hay and a bucket of water while emergency responders work on a rescue plan for them.
“They’re not in a hurry, it’s you that’s in a hurry. Has anybody ever dealt with someone who is emotional about their animals? Let’s come up with a plan.”
She said there is no perfect way to deal with all the different things that can happen while urging that people take precautions to prevent problems in the first place, like properly hitching the trailer and making sure that people hauling livestock are properly trained before they hit the road.
Gimenez-Husted encouraged conference participants to visit the Red Deer County livestock emergency trailer parked outside the conference, the equipment and supplies it carries and the competent crew available to manage livestock involved in highway emergencies. Equipment includes a variety of gear capable of managing and containing loose animals from piglets to large bulls – although crews will not attempt to manage loose bison because they are simply too aggressive and unpredictable.
Red Deer County trailer has one of 18 livestock emergency trailers now spotted in rural areas throughout the province and dispatched in collaboration between AFAC and local emergency centres.
Bushell, who just completed a term on AFAC’s board of directors, was involved in an informal investigation two years ago, when emergency crews attending a rollover involving a trailer full of weaner pigs were unaware that a similar trailer was available within an hour of the scene. He said measures were taken to raise awareness of the trailers and ensure that truckers and rural emergency departments know how to find them.
“The big thing is planning and communications. When disasters hit, there’s probably a lot of things that we don’t think about ahead of time. A lot of times we’re reactionary in situations rather than having a go-to plan,” he said.
Additionally, communication lines must be open to other responders, including veterinarians.
“I think that’s something we have to take very, very seriously when it comes to accidents involving livestock,” said Bushell.
When WHE still operated its assembly yard in Red Deer, it had a full complement of safety security on site, biosecurity measures were taken and all staff were familiar with the response plans that had been created, considering large numbers of trucks and animals were on site during operating hours, said Bushell.
“You can’t just create a plan and then put it on the shelf. It’s something that we had to look at constantly and re-evaluate every couple of years and say: ‘Does this serve our purposes or does it not serve our purposes,’” he said.
“Typically, when you have accidents like that, they happen very, very quickly. You have to be very proactive in evaluating your whole operation, whether it’s an assembly barn or it’s a farm or a barn, and saying: ‘What if this happens,’ and then going through the whole process.”
Bushell said one of the biggest challenges in the hog industry probably lies in the number of barns that are 25 or more years old and need to be evaluated for structural and electrical integrity.
“People really have to take a proactive perspective and do fair and honest evaluation of what their program looks like, and if they don’t have a program, then certainly that’s a good place to start,” he said.
Gimenez-Husted wrapped up with a brief discussion of the emotional trauma people suffer after an incident involving their animals.
“We’re all here because we love animals, right? We have to think about our mental health. When we have to deal with a cow in mud, the livestock trailer on the side of the road, a barn that burns to the ground, it affects us. It affects your veterinarians when they have to euthanize (animals). They have to see absolutely awful things. If you’re having problems, you need to go find someone.”
She issued her final challenge of the day, asking people in the room to go and find qualified counsellor who are involved with the industry and who they can call to talk about what happened and how it has affected them.
Please visit tlaer.org to gain further insight into managing animal emergencies and to learn more about the training programs offered by Gimenez-Husted and her team. •
— By Brenda Kossowan