Ben Madilynn
Last week, the animal rescue team from Winchester Fire Station were hosted at Lady Chichester’s manor house in Wiltshire, where they were given the opportunity to practice their skills on the exotic animals which live there.
Mark Compton, a Winchester Watch Manager, recently came across camels whilst out mountain biking in Little Durnford, Wiltshire.
He started talking to Lady Chichester, and explained his role at Winchester Fire Station and that of the specialist animal trained crews.
An opportunity to test their skills on such a wide range of exotic animals doesn’t arise often, so the team were grateful when Lady Chichester invited them to visit.
Mark said:
“The purpose is to get crews comfortable when working with animals and for them to put on head restraint and lead them safely which is obviously important when dealing with animals in an emergency situation.
“The staff gave us important training on how to capture and hold the animals safely without causing them distress and injury.
“It was a fantastic opportunity for Winchester animal rescue teams to expand their knowledge and understanding of animals which can be translated into good operational practice.”
The team got to grips with camels, alpacas, miniature horses and the largest breeds of donkey!
Lady Chichester said:
“All our animals were absolutely delighted in having such a bunch of friendly, fun people surrounding them and taking such an interest in them. Every animal absolutely loved that morning!
“We are happy that your firefighters were interested in familiarising themselves with the animals and were able to look through a window into the very wide range of possibilities there are to understand and appreciate animals, the depths of their feelings, their individualism and intelligence.
“I noticed how aware and sensitive your crew were to these possibilities and that is great to see.”
One of Lady Chichester’s camels, Temujin, that the team worked with was featured in the BBC News for his new pair of special shoes to give him a ‘new lease of life’.
A local cobbler in Salisbury transformed Temujin’s life by making him support boots as he was suffering with stretched tendons in his forelegs.
HIWFRS’s team of animal rescue officers provide specialist advice and support for the many animal related incidents dealt with by the Service each year.
Celebrating 20 years of a Hampshire-based animal rescue response in 2024, you can find out more on our website.
Our animal rescue officers have also recently been running refresher training for Brockenhurst and Lyndhurst on-call crews at Longdown Activity Farm.
The firefighters were able to test their handling skills with goats, chickens, pigs, horses, alpacas and cows.
