Cows and sheep at a Stone farm were rescued from rising flood waters on Sunday by Staffordshire County Council’s animal health team and fire service officers.
The team was called out to the site at Aston on Sunday lunchtime and managed to move 36 sheep and 11 cows to safety on higher ground. The farmer worked with the teams throughout the operation.
Staffordshire County Council’s cabinet member for communities Pat Corfield said: “I’d like to commend our animal health team and the fire service officers involved in what had been a difficult operation with the animals’ lives at risk. The water had risen extremely quickly and the farmer had very little time to move his livestock and so needed to call for help. We would like to remind livestock owners that they should have contingency plans in place where there is a flood risk as they have a duty to protect animals in their care.
“This is another good example of efficient working between the county council and one of our partner organisations. Sunday’s operation has helped protect a rural business, keep these animals safe and demonstrated, along with our highways teams, that we were on hand to tackle flood related issues over the weekend.”
Station manager Brian Griffiths said: “We were called to help rescue a number of sheep who were in danger of being trapped in flood water. A boat crew from Newcastle attended the incident along with the fire engine from Stone to move the animals to safe, higher land. Crews used the boat and inflatable walkways to reach the animals which they then managed to rescue and guide onto safe ground.
“We echo the council’s advice for owners of livestock to keep an eye on flood alerts and if they have land within a known flooding area to move their livestock at their earliest opportunity as a precaution to prevent the animals becoming trapped or stranded in the event of bad weather.”
