‘Cow down’: Northern California deputies face quagmire after cow is mired in a pit for hours

A cow, who is a nursing mother, mired in a muddy pit presented a quagmire of situation for Northern California sheriff’s deputies tasked with digging the bovine out.

The Nevada County Humane Emergency Animal Rescue Team, an animal rescue nonprofit operating under the Nevada County Sheriff’s Office, was called Friday night by deputies to Smartsville for a call of a “cow down,” the agency said online.

Penn Valley Fire Department firefighters were also called about 7:50 p.m. to help pull out Cotton the cow out from the sludge that it sat in, surrounded by hay mounds.

It’s unknown how the cow became stuck in mud on private property in the 21000 block of Burke Road, Ashley Quadros, a spokeswoman with the Nevada County Sheriff’s Office, wrote in an email. A caller said Cotton had been stuck for hours, she wrote.

Veterinarians helped to assess Cotton’s well-being right after first responders pulled her out. She appeared to be cold and weak, Quadros wrote.

Sheriff’s deputies reported Cotton was doing great Monday after getting trapped.

“Cotton is a nursing mom and our goal was to help Cotton get to higher, dry ground so she could rest, get warm, and eat,” Quadros wrote.