A twenty-two year old horse named Milo, busted through the fencing of its pasture and was missing since Wednesday afternoon.
Just hours after being called in to help search for the horse, Vermont Drone literally located it in the last few minutes of daylight on Saturday. This was the sixth horse located by Vermont Drone which lead to a successful rescue. Vermont Drone has also safely located fourteen other lost and missing pets for their owners and participated in searches for lost and missing persons.
After dark it took the Woodbury Fire Department hours to safely navigate all the volunteers and Milo down the extremely rough terrain of the mountain.
No one thought the horse could be up on that mountain due to the rough terrain, the horse’s advance age, and its “fat” unshod feet. Vermont Drone’s pilot decided to perform a wide area grid search over the area during the last possible flight of the day just to help rule out any possibility and so future efforts could be focused on other more likely locations.
Milo’s owner had him in a “blaze orange” blanket as it’s deer rifle season. This blanket eventually made spotting Milo much easier than typical but no one was really certain if he would still have it on or not. So the live video was monitored extremely carefully just in case he had shed it.
Everyone is now home safe, including Milo. Milo is reportedly in good condition and is recovering, despite the freezing temperatures, snow, and freezing rain that occurred in Woodbury the past few days and nights.
“We are so happy that we were able to so quickly locate Milo and lead rescuers to his location,” said Steve Mermelstein, Vermont Drone’s Founder and Director of Photography. “I doubt even a younger and healthier horse could have survived another couple of hours under these conditions, and definitely not with the single digit temperatures expected late this evening. I’m so pleased we were able to get help to him in time.”
Your support can help Vermont Drone purchase and maintain specialized search equipment and also underwrite SAR training or required recertifications to more of our staff and search volunteers. All excess funds will be used to start and/or extend search missions to those who cannot afford the services. DONATE NOW! Thank you!
