‘All Lives Matter’: Horse stranded on roof in Brazil due to flood rescued

Heartbreaking pictures went viral on social networks. On Wednesday, April 8, the Brazilian TV channel TV Globo showed a video in which you can see an isolated horse on the roof of a house in Brazil. Balancing on a roof, the horse known on social media as “Caramelo” found himself stranded by floods that have inundated the city of Canoas and, by extension, much of southern Brazil.

But a little more than 24 hours after the horse was spotted, and after a strong mobilization to save him, a rescue team sent by the Brazilian state of Rio Grande do Sul managed to save Caramelo this Thursday, giving a little balm to the heart of the whole region besieged by water.

“We found the animal in a weakened state,” said Capt. Thiago Franco, director of operations. “We tried to approach him calmly,” he added. His team went to the roof to sedate and immobilize the horse before placing it on an inflatable raft.

Lula was happy to hear this news

The operation required the mobilization of more than ten people, including firefighters, soldiers, veterinarians and other volunteers. Four inflatable boats and four support vessels were used to carry out the rescue operation. It was even broadcast live on TV channels, everything was filmed from helicopters.

President Lula’s wife, who was particularly touched by the situation, also welcomed this rescue, before posting a video in which we see her announcing the good news to her husband, clearly very happy about it.

“All lives matter,” wrote Eduardo Leite, the governor of Rio Grande do Sul state, also pleased with the rescue operation that kept the entire country on edge.

A horse in a state of dehydration

Caramelo is currently recovering at a veterinary clinic. Veterinarian in charge of the care, Mariangela Allgaier, said on social media that the seven-year-old horse arrived at the clinic severely dehydrated.

Given its characteristics, the horse was likely used as a draft animal to pull carts, according to Bruno Schmitz, one of the veterinarians who helped rescue Caramelo. He added that he was a very gentle horse, which made administering sedatives much easier. “This was a very complex operation, far beyond the standards of even specialized teams. I think they have never experienced anything like this before, but thank God everything went well,” he told GloboNews TV channel along with Caramelo.