Mesen (Brussels Morning Newspaper) – Firefighters in Westhoek rescued a cow in Mesen on Saturday, Aug 16, 2025, marking the 4th cow rescue in a week. The animal was secured with ropes and lifting straps before being safely returned to its farmer.
As GVA News reported, firefighters in Westhoek received another call on the morning of Saturday, Aug. 16, 2025, for another animal rescue. At 8 a.m., a farmer located in Nieuw-Zealanderstraat, in Mesen, on the Walloon border, in West Flanders province, Belgium, was checking the fence when he saw one of his cows had fallen into the pond at the back of his property after escaping the fence. The cow was stuck but still standing on the edge of the bank, and the farmer wasted no time contacting emergency services, with fire crews from Mesen firehouse responding to the scene.
What led firefighters in Westhoek to rescue 4 cows in a week?
The firefighters used ropes to catch and secure the cow so it could not run off or hurt itself. With steady work, they pulled the animal back onto safe ground and handed it over to the farmer unharmed. This was already the 4th cow rescue in the region within a week.
A specialised animal rescue team from the Westhoek Fire Department was called to Mesen after the first crew secured the cow with ropes. Firefighters from different stations took part in the action, including a hooklift truck from the Verne post.
Divers and assistants also went to the farm to help with the rescue. The team fixed the lifting straps around the animal and hoisted it out of the pond. The farmer confirmed that the animal is in good condition.
Firefighters were called in on Thursday, Aug 7, 2025, in Diksmuide when a cow was spotted paddling in the Handzamevaart canal. The bovine drifted almost 2 kilometres, with a kayaker as its companion, before being moored and dragged to the shore with a telehandler.
Earlier, on Monday, Aug 11, 2025, the fire department and the DRT team were dispatched to Pollinkhove, where a cow weighing approximately 800 kilograms became bogged down in a pond’s mud.
That job required heavy equipment and extra manpower. On Wednesday evening, Aug 13, 2025, another cow was discovered in the mud of a pond in Lo-Reninge, but that animal was freed more quickly.
In 2023, firefighters in Diksmuide pulled a cow out of the Handzamevaart canal after it had wandered into the water, and in Lo-Reninge, several animals have been saved from muddy ponds in the past.
