The Louisiana State Animal Response Team rescued a 25-year-old geriatric horse from the rising flood waters of the Ouachita River in West Monroe on Nov. 9.
Tess Cooper, the horse’s owner, asked her veterinarian for assistance in moving her horse to dry ground before the water rose too high, according to Rebecca McConnico, LSART Equine Branch Director and associate professor of equine medicine at the LSU School of Veterinary Medicine.
Cooper’s veterinarian, Jay Wharford, contacted McConnico, who coordinated a plan to rescue the horse using a pontoon boat provided by the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries.
The LSART Team was composed of Mustajab Mirza, assistant professor of equine surgery; Michelle Woodward, equine medicine and surgery intern; LSU equine technician Cindy Meeker; and LSART Deputy Director Becky Adcock.
 
—-Contact Sarah Eddington at [email protected]