Crime & Safety
Riverside Unit Specializing in Horse Rescues Holds Inaugural Workshop
This was all part of the new team unit called HART: Horse Animal Rescue Team.
Photo courtesy of the Riverside County Animal Services Department
By City News Service
A newly formed public safety unit that specializes exclusively in rescuing large animals, mainly horses, held its inaugural training exercise Friday, drawing personnel from different agencies together to hone their skills.
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The Horse Animal Rescue Team -- HART -- became active this month, and members assembled at the Riverside Rancheros equestrian club to work through simulated rescues.
“Many of our officers are knowledgeable in equine rescues and handling, but these workshops ensure everyone who works in any rescue as part of a ‘mutual aid’ call involving HART have all the necessary training to participate,” said Riverside County Department of Animal Services spokesman John Welsh.
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“You will likely hear a lot more about HART in the coming months, especially when an incident occurs,” he said.
The city contracts with the county for animal control service, and officers were coordinating with fire department personnel today to try techniques that will be used in the field. The exercise involved using life- scale plastic horses.
Welsh said additional exercises are planned through the weekend.
According to Riverside Fire Department Capt. Tyler Reynolds, members of the police department’s Mounted Patrol Unit came up with the HART concept and were instrumental in establishing the team, which will focus on an array of “technical rescues.”
“This includes overturned horse trailers, horses trapped in quicksand, swimming pools, trenches, wells, septic tanks, hillsides or steep terrain in which the animal is unable to free itself,” Reynolds said.
According to the fire captain, the city generally experiences a “low frequency” of large animal rescues, but such operations require special handling.
“The police department has partnered with the fire department, which will provide specialized equipment and expertise in heavy lifting, ropes and confined-space rescue,” Reynolds said.
He said the team will be available 24/7 and will be deploy to assist agencies in other cities under existing mutual aid agreements.
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