Date: Fri 26-Jan-1996

Publication: Bee

Author: ANDYG

Quick Words:

pony-Hawleyville-weather

Full Text:

Shed Collapse Kills Two Ponies

man's first name "Kenn" is CQ

to go with pix

B Y A NDREW G OROSKO

In a valiant rescue effort amid ice, snow, mud and high winds, firefighters

last Friday pushed, prodded and cajoled an injured pony named Candy from her

collapsed cold shed in Hawleyville to a warm garage seeking to spur the

horse's recovery from the traumatic incident. Despite the efforts of the

volunteers and a veterinarian, the pony died later.

Resident Kenn Williams, who lives at 59 Hawleyville Road with his wife,

Helene, had last tended to the couple's two pet ponies in the shed behind

their house at dusk the preceding day. The Williams's enjoyed a movie at home

that night and then retired for the evening.

At about 9:30 am on Friday, Mr Williams went to the shed to check on the

ponies Faith and Candy, both 17. He found the dappled Faith lifeless beneath

the wreckage of the shed which had collapsed sometime overnight under the

weight of accumulated wet snow.

Candy, a 650-pound black pony with a shaggy winter coat, was found still alive

down on the ground in cold mud, lying in the rubble of the shed.

Mr Williams said he was planning to replace the shed this coming spring, but

unfortunately, the elements brought the structure down before a new one could

be built.

Mr Williams tried to get Candy up off the ground but the animal wouldn't rise.

He called the police who in turn alerted firefighters. The Hawleyville and

Newtown Hook and Ladder volunteer fire departments quickly responded to the

call.

"The barn caved in on the horses," Mr Williams said as he watched firefighters

tend to the downed pony in the glare of firetruck lights. "We keep them for

our pleasure...They're very gentle," Mr Williams said of the two equines.

Firefighters gathered up some blankets and brought them to Candy, placing them

over her husky frame to keep off the winter chill.

Firefighters from Hawleyville and Newtown Hook and Ladder then encircled the

pony amid the shed's wreckage. They placed high-wattage emergency lighting

around her in an attempt to warm her with the heat from the electric lamps.

Firefighters held up flat pieces of the building's wreckage to deflect wind

gusts from the injured animal.

They nudged the equine to get it to stand up under its own power, but to no

avail.

Veterinarian Mark Mazaleski of Connecticut Equine Practice was called to the

scene, and he examined the pony to check for damage to its musculature. He

then injected the animal with drugs to alleviate. With a stethoscope, he

checked Candy's heartbeat. Dr Mazaleski's wife, Jodi, aided him at the scene.

"It's wonderful that the fire department is helping. Because otherwise this

would be impossible," Mrs Mazaelski said of firefighters' efforts to aid the

injured horse.

Ever so slowly, the firefighters who encircled the pony raised it off the

ground, planting its hoofs on the muddy soil.

Pulling and pushing the animal, the firemen carefully moved the pony about 50

yards from the collapsed shed to a garage in the basement level of the

Williams's home.

Firemen scattered a bed of hay across the floor to take the chill off its

concrete surface.

Dr Mazaleski had the firemen devise a sling to support Candy's torso as she

stood in the garage. Mr Williams got a heavy hemp mesh hammock which he

normally hangs in the yard in the summertime and converted it for use as a

sling. Using a large ratchet, firefighters tensioned the hammock to support

the weight of the horse.

Dr Mazaleski explained to Mr Williams that one of Candy's legs wasn't carrying

her weight as she walked. The veterinarian said the horse may have suffered

damage to its nerves and muscles. Blood was taken from the animal to help

diagnose the nature of its injuries.

As firefighters departed from the scene amid high winds, the Williams's

thanked them for their work to help the injured pony.

Dr Mazaaleski stayed with Candy for part of the day, trying to learn what

would help her regain vitality after the injuries she suffered.

But the pony had sustained significant injuries, Mr Williams said Monday,

explaining that Candy gradually faded and then died Friday night.

Serious muscle injuries led to her death, he said. The injuries caused

imbalances in the horse's enzyme levels, he said.

Mr Williams said that he and his wife haven't yet decided whether they want to

keep more ponies.

Mr Williams offered his thanks to the firefighters from Hawleyville and

Newtown Hook and Ladder who labored to help Candy last Friday. Their efforts

that day are much appreciated, he said.

The day before the barn collapsed on Faith and Candy in Hawleyville, a barn

collapsed on Pete, another pony, on Sugar Street in Dodgingtown. Pete, the pet

of Emily Moran, escaped unscathed from the incident, having been standing in a

section of his barn which was untouched by the roof that collapsed under the

weight of accumulated wet snow.