SOUTHWEST MIAMI-DADE, Fla. (WSVN) -- Two horses found stuck in ditches are recovering after they were left to roam the streets of a rural part of Miami-Dade on their own.
Crews had to use a backhoe with a winch to hoist the horses from two separate locations, about 40 feet apart and both located off to the side of the road, early Friday afternoon.
The first horse was found near the intersection of Southwest 199th Avenue and 168 Street. "I was driving down the road and I saw a horses head sticking out eating grass about two feet off the ground," Felicia Perez said.
Authorities said the first horse was by itself when it was traveling west on 168 Street. They believe it must have fallen into the 7- to 8-feet deep ditch in a muddy patch of tall grass. A woman stumbled across it and called the authorities.
Scores of rescuers from the Miami-Dade Fire Rescue Department appeared on the scene along with a veterinarian. Two fire trucks, two ambulances and other rescue vehicles closed off part of the road to traffic, as they worked to save the first horse.
The rescuers gathered around the horse, which looked alert and wiggled its ears from time to time, to comfort it and devise a plan to hoist it out.
Just before noon, Miami-Dade Fire Rescue's Tactical Rescue Team arrived on the scene. They hooked the animal up to a harness. A resident nearby offered his backhoe to hook up the harness and the horse was smoothly raised our of the tight, 4-foot wide crevasse.
The veterinarian hydrated the animal as it laid by the side of the road. Soon after, another horse was discovered about 40 feet away, and rescuers, along with the vet, went over to it with the same rescue equipment. "As we were cleaning up from the last horse rescue, I was walking back to my truck that was parked back over there. I heard a loud noise," Charles Seifert said.
They pulled it out and rested it on the side of the road where the vet tended to it. It's condition remains unknown, but as the vet received help to at least lift the horse partly up, it began to nibble on some nearby grass.
A horse trailer also arrived on the scene, which will take the animals to a veterinary hospital.
Authorities took the two animals to a veterinarian because of their very bad shape. Both horse were weak and bruised. The Veterinarian said both horses are very emaciated and old.
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