Disasters such as floods, fires, earthquakes and cyclones often leave large animals trapped.  They frequently become entangled in fencing wire or trapped in mud, trees, swimming pools, sewers and drains. Unsuccessful evacuations can also leave animals trapped in trailer wrecks.

Large Animal Emergency Rescue (LAER) is the response phase of a natural or manmade disaster, or accident, where specialised training and equipment are required to rescue a large animal such as a horse, alpaca or cow. Making sure that animal rescue doesn’t jeopardise responders, experts, owners, road users or the public is a central concern of LAER.

When an animal is trapped in a hole, by wire, in a road crash or mud – it can easily revert to the inbuilt “fight or flight” responses regardless of the age, training or breed. This applies especially to horses. Without the skills and knowledge associated with LAER techniques, the animal is likely to become more injured during the rescue than the initial accident caused in the first place. Emergency service personnel are also exposed to significant risk without specialist training.

LAER is an extremely challenging task requiring innovative solutions actioned through multi-agency collaboration with the involvement of experts such as veterinarians. LAER skill sets involve dynamic risk assessment, incident scene control, communication systems, team skills, safe work practices and animal welfare. These skills have been refined, developed and taught in the UK and USA over the past 20 years. They are emerging in Australia in relation to Australian conditions.  This poster explains how training in skills, procedures and team work reduces risks. It highlights the ways in which most existing equipment on response vehicles can be adapted to meet the majority of large animal rescue scenarios.