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Pell City firefighters spent more than four hours on Monday, Aug. 11, 2014, rescuing Betsy the cow from a 1,000-gallon septic tank.

(Pell City Fire and Rescue)

PELL CITY, Alabama - A Pell City cow found herself in deep doo-doo today when she fell into a 1,000-gallon septic tank near the fence line of her pasture.

It took rescue workers more than three hours to free Betsy from the mess, but they were finally able to float the 1,000-pound cow to freedom. "We got a plan together to get her out alive,'' said Pell City Fire and Rescue Capt. Tim Kurzejeski, "and we did."

Betsy took the tumble about 8 a.m. at her home on Lewis Lake Lane. She was grazing on her property when she fell through the septic tank lid and landed in about 4 to 5 feet of human excrement. "She was up to her shoulders in sewage,'' the captain said.

Her owners tried unsuccessfully to rescue the cow. "They did what they could,'' Kurzejeski said, but it was to no avail.

Volunteer rescue workers were first called to the scene, and then summoned Pell City Fire and Rescue to help about 11 a.m. Betsy, who had struggled to free herself, had all but given up. "She had fought for so long she was wore out and just laid down,'' Kurzejeski said. "And then we couldn't get her back up."

They tried to coax her out with sweet feed, but it wasn't enough. Firefighters then called in a septic company to pump out the tank. "We couldn't have that leaking out everywhere,'' Kurzejeski said.

Once the tank was emptied of the waste, they used a garden house to rinse Betsy and then a fire hose to fill the tank with water. Betsy floated to the surface.

"She had some scratches and she was lethargic, but she was OK,'' Kurzejeski said. As of late this afternoon, she was walking around her pasture on her own accord.

The owners, he said, were distraught throughout the rescue. "We had several thunderstorms come through,'' Kurzejeski said, "but they never left her side. They stood right there by the septic tank."

The shift captain said it was a happy ending. "You just never know what you're going to come across in a day."