It was around 17.00 when farmer Jan Ståle Haugnes received a phone call from someone who had seen that his cows were out at sea. When he came out he saw the animals, which were standing with water to their knees out on a reef at sea. – It looked like they were just standing in water. The fire brigade and Norwegian People’s Aid helped the farmer save the cows on Wednesday night. Photo: Laila Strand Unclean waters It is starting to blow up, and Hustadvika is known for being harsh. – There was a gale and it was dramatic. We tried to push them on the lake with water scooters to make them swim. But day does not succeed. The cows did not dare to go swimming. Eventually they got a rope around one cow. – We chased her on the lake and pulled her with the watercraft. Then we got over one more, and then the ten others realized that it worked. They went swimming, but there was a strong current that pulled them out. We pushed them by boat and schooner so they got ashore and did not go to sea. Long rescue operation Jan Ståle Haugnes says it was painful to see the animals struggling. – When it was at its worst, the sea hit the animals. It was nothing special. It was helpless when they stood in the middle of the fjord. The cows had also been observed earlier in the day, and he reckons that they have been out on the reef for almost twelve hours when everyone was finally rescued on land at 23.00. The cows finally recovered on safe ground. Photo: Laila Strand Haugnes thinks animals may have been chased by a loose dog. The grazing of the cows goes down into the sea, but in 30 years the farmer has never experienced that the animals swim in the sea. The farmer says the cows are fine now, and that they came from it all with just a few abrasions. – It was a lot up and down from the rock to get them from the lake, so I think it went incredibly well depending on the conditions.
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The cows of Jan Ståle Haugnes were stuck on an islet in Hustadvika – news Møre og Romsdal – Local news, TV and radio
