Drone used to find missing horse stuck on mountaintop in Fayette County
WHARTON TOWNSHIP, Pa. (KDKA) -- There was a wild search and rescue mission for a missing horse in Fayette County.
The horse's owner wasn't having any luck looking from the ground, so they reached out to a professional who could take the search to the skies, and that led to a daring rescue.
The rescue involved something on a mountaintop in a remote area that shouldn't be there: a horse stuck under powerlines.
"He found himself an open pasture on top of this mountain, but couldn't figure out how to get himself down from there," said Amelia Breitenbach, owner of Pittsburgh Drone Pet Search and Rescue.
The horse's name is Pretzel. Breitenbach said he had trotted from his home in the Farmington area of Wharton Township, Fayette County, several days ago.
After no sightings for about three days, Pretzel's owner reached out to Breitenbach to see if she could help. She flew her drone, which has thermal imaging and high-definition lenses, over the heavily wooded area.
Pretzel was spotted galloping around on a steep hill, only three miles from his home.
"After being up in the air for 20 minutes, I'm like, 'I found your horse for you.' I'm like, 'Here is your horse,'" Breitenbach said.
It wasn't going to be an easy rescue mission.
"We get there, and it is straight down and straight up, and we just see this horse on the other side. Literally. He's wagging his tail at us, almost mocking us from the other side of the ravine. The owner was very relieved to see the horse was okay and was on top of the other hill, but we were kind of, very defeated last night," Breitenbach said.
Since they couldn't climb to the horse on foot, the owner and a friend went up with a couple of horses.
Plan A was to shake a feed bucket. Pretzel didn't fall for it, so they went to plan B.
"They made a makeshift corral, and they were able to kind of push him in that direction of the woods. So, he kind of corralled himself in this area, and at that point, they were able to jump off, and he had his breakaway harness on, so they were able to clip him at that point. Then they rode the horses back down the back of the mountain," Breitenbach said.
Since Breitenbach started her business nearly a year ago, she's used her drone to help lasso over a hundred animals, including dogs, cats, goats, turtles, and horses.
Breitenbach said Pretzel is back at his farm doing just fine. He is a little tired after horsing around too much.
"I felt so good because I work a lot in the woods of remote areas that if I don't find them, I know it's not going to be a good outcome. So, I'm always relieved whenever I am able to find those animals." Breitenbach said.