Team Herald
CANACONA: An alert young boy with the help of the locals rescued a calf stuck in an abandoned manmade depression at Chapoli Dam, Canacona, on Wednesday.
Speaking to Herald about the incident Abner Barretto, an 11-year-old student said that he had gone to the Chapoli Dam for an outing with his family.
An avid animal lover himself, after visiting the Animal Rescue Center (ARC) near the Chapoli Dam, he began wandering aimlessly looking for butterflies and that’s when he heard the cry of a calf.
“I understood that the mooing was not normal and that an animal could be in anguish.”
After searching in the direction of the sound I saw a bull calf fallen into a two-metres-deep ditch and that’s when I alerted my parents,” Abner said gleefully.
The parents without wasting time notified the locals, who arrived with ropes for the rescue operation. Sensing that the amateurs may not be able to rescue the calf without harming the animal or the rescuers themselves, a call was made to the fire station based at Mastimoll in Canacona.
Meanwhile, someone in the group called Puno Chapolkar, a resident of Chapoli and the owner of the trapped calf. Chapolkar managed to clam the agitated calf. Following this and after an initial struggle, the youth gathered at the site, pulled the calf up from the pit, with the help of nylon ropes. What was heartening was that they did this before the fire brigade could arrive.
Once brought back to safety, the frightened calf made a dash into the woods to the joy of the boy who spotted the calf and the onlookers.
“There are two pits more than two metres deep adjacent to each other near ARC at Chapoli. On enquiries, the locals told us that they are dug to study the soil conditions for a proposed shelter in case of a disaster. The authorities have kept this pits unfenced and they pose a danger to domestic as well as wild animals of the area. They should be covered with soil or fenced properly for not to have a repeat of a similar incident,” Abner warned.
Puno later thanked the boy and said that the calf was missing since Tuesday and he had searched entire Wednesday till the calf was spotted and subsequently rescued.
