A massive pig who became stuck in a creek north of Auckland has been lifted to safety thanks to a team of volunteer firefighters
Tracey Roberts was feeding her animals at her Warkworth home on Tuesday when her pig Mable got herself stuck in the nearby creek.
"Mable was walking up towards me, and then all of sudden turned left and plopped into the creek," Roberts told Newshub.
Roberts and her husband tried everything to rescue the 200kg pig themselves, but to no avail.
"The two of us tried for about an hour and a half to get her out, but she's a bit of a large unit," she said.
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The couple led her to a platform where they thought she would be able to climb out, but Mable was too exhausted to try.
Running short of options, the Roberts decided to call the Warkworth Volunteer Fire Brigade.
The fire brigade arrived with a soft strop, used especially for animal rescue.
"We put two of those on her - one in behind her front legs, and one in front of her back legs," Roberts said.
The Roberts then put one of their own strops behind her bottom, and then the couple and the fire brigade managed to pull Mable out to safety.
"Between the six of us it only took about five minutes to get her out - we just needed manpower."
Volunteer Tracey Morris said Mable was exhausted but very calm.
"She is a big pig, but it was an easy job. We just put a couple of strops under her and lifted her out," Morris told Newshub.
Morris said rescuing animals is the best part of her job.
"I once rescued a horse that had been stuck in a drain overnight. We did not think it would survive, but I went back to visit the next day and it was happy and well."
Mable is now safe and healthy, but Roberts is keeping a close eye on her.
"She slept all that day in her little house, and the vet came out in the afternoon to give her some antibiotics," Roberts told Newshub.
Mable was at risk of ingesting creek water, which can be full of dangerous bacteria and could have made Mable very sick.
"She's still eating, so that's a good sign!"
Roberts thanked the Volunteer Fire Brigade for all of their hard work.
"If it wasn't for people like them volunteering, it would have been a much sadder story."
Newshub.
