MONROE - Wisconsin cows aren't ready for the California lifestyle.
The quick thinking of two Albany high school students saved the life of a Holstein heifer that accidentally fall into a swimming pool full of water outside their back door.
Savannah Mulrooney, 16, heard her sister Alanna, 14, scream and the door slam as they were getting ready for school just before 8 a.m. Thursday.
Alanna ran to tell her sister that a cow was standing right outside their door.
"At first I didn't believe her," Savannah said.
Savannah tried to argue with her younger sister.
"She said, 'Seriously, there's a cow.' I said, no there isn't, and she said, yes, there is," Savannah said.
When she followed Alanna to see the cow, the sisters saw two cows farther back from the door.
But they also found a rip in the swimming pool's cover, and a hump under it was moving and mooing.
The cow by the door had fallen through the pool cover at the deep end of the pool and was moving toward the shallow end.
Realizing the cow could not get out and might drown, Savannah and Alanna ran to the pool and started releasing the pool cover.
The girls' adrenaline was running high.
"We were freaking out and ripping the cover off. I don't know how we did it," Savannah said.
The girls were able to uncover more than a third of the 20-foot-by-40-foot pool.
But because they couldn't get all of it uncovered, Savannah said they decided to call the police.
But instead they called their father, Tom, at work and made him call the police.
"We didn't think the police would believe us," Savannah said. "I said, 'Dad, just believe us, there's a cow in the pool. Call the police, because they won't believe us if we call,'" she said.
Savannah said the police arrived quickly, but when the girls met the policeman at the door, he was doubtful. "Show me this cow," he said
So they did, and he called for the fire department.
By this time, Beth Van Pool, who owns the property on South Mechanic Street and swimming pool, was just getting up and was frightened to see the girls with the police in the back yard. She thought someone had drowned in her pool.
Instead she found a badly frightened cow standing in the shallow end.
She said the water in the deep end of the pool would have been over the cow's head.
"I was amazed," Van Pool said. "Here these little 85-pound girls had pulled up those anchors."
Van Pool said the cover is staked into the cement and needs a tool to be removed. Because of the hard work involved even with the tool, she has her adult son do it.
"The advertisement said it was strong enough to hold an elephant," she laughed.
Despite the initial dire situation for the cow, there was now time for the adults to figure out how to remove the animal from the pool.
"They made us go to school," Savannah said about the police. "We wanted to stay and see it come out."
Some students didn't believe the story they brought to Albany High School that morning. Fortunately, the girls thought to snap a few pictures on their cell phones to prove it.
Back at poolside, firefighters and police and a couple of local men were pondering how to get a cow to walk up the four-foot-wide steps.
"One of them said, 'This isn't in the rule book,' and another said, "It will be now,'" Van Pool laughed.
Eventually, the cow's owner, Greg Price of Brodhead, showed up.
His cow had damaged not only the cover but also her pool liner and the steps.
It was a very tense moment, with everybody worried and wondering what the pool owner would say to him
"So I decided to break the tension," Van Pool said.
"Greg, I think you need to water your animals more regularly," she told him.
Eventually, the men lassoed the cow and prodded her to walk up the steps.
Van Pool credits the Mulrooney sisters for saving the cow's life.
But Savannah said she just loves all animals.
"Knowing the cow was struggling for its life under the pool cover, almost made me cry," she said.J
The quick thinking of two Albany high school students saved the life of a Holstein heifer that accidentally fall into a swimming pool full of water outside their back door.
Savannah Mulrooney, 16, heard her sister Alanna, 14, scream and the door slam as they were getting ready for school just before 8 a.m. Thursday.
Alanna ran to tell her sister that a cow was standing right outside their door.
"At first I didn't believe her," Savannah said.
Savannah tried to argue with her younger sister.
"She said, 'Seriously, there's a cow.' I said, no there isn't, and she said, yes, there is," Savannah said.
When she followed Alanna to see the cow, the sisters saw two cows farther back from the door.
But they also found a rip in the swimming pool's cover, and a hump under it was moving and mooing.
The cow by the door had fallen through the pool cover at the deep end of the pool and was moving toward the shallow end.
Realizing the cow could not get out and might drown, Savannah and Alanna ran to the pool and started releasing the pool cover.
The girls' adrenaline was running high.
"We were freaking out and ripping the cover off. I don't know how we did it," Savannah said.
The girls were able to uncover more than a third of the 20-foot-by-40-foot pool.
But because they couldn't get all of it uncovered, Savannah said they decided to call the police.
But instead they called their father, Tom, at work and made him call the police.
"We didn't think the police would believe us," Savannah said. "I said, 'Dad, just believe us, there's a cow in the pool. Call the police, because they won't believe us if we call,'" she said.
Savannah said the police arrived quickly, but when the girls met the policeman at the door, he was doubtful. "Show me this cow," he said
So they did, and he called for the fire department.
By this time, Beth Van Pool, who owns the property on South Mechanic Street and swimming pool, was just getting up and was frightened to see the girls with the police in the back yard. She thought someone had drowned in her pool.
Instead she found a badly frightened cow standing in the shallow end.
She said the water in the deep end of the pool would have been over the cow's head.
"I was amazed," Van Pool said. "Here these little 85-pound girls had pulled up those anchors."
Van Pool said the cover is staked into the cement and needs a tool to be removed. Because of the hard work involved even with the tool, she has her adult son do it.
"The advertisement said it was strong enough to hold an elephant," she laughed.
Despite the initial dire situation for the cow, there was now time for the adults to figure out how to remove the animal from the pool.
"They made us go to school," Savannah said about the police. "We wanted to stay and see it come out."
Some students didn't believe the story they brought to Albany High School that morning. Fortunately, the girls thought to snap a few pictures on their cell phones to prove it.
Back at poolside, firefighters and police and a couple of local men were pondering how to get a cow to walk up the four-foot-wide steps.
"One of them said, 'This isn't in the rule book,' and another said, "It will be now,'" Van Pool laughed.
Eventually, the cow's owner, Greg Price of Brodhead, showed up.
His cow had damaged not only the cover but also her pool liner and the steps.
It was a very tense moment, with everybody worried and wondering what the pool owner would say to him
"So I decided to break the tension," Van Pool said.
"Greg, I think you need to water your animals more regularly," she told him.
Eventually, the men lassoed the cow and prodded her to walk up the steps.
Van Pool credits the Mulrooney sisters for saving the cow's life.
But Savannah said she just loves all animals.
"Knowing the cow was struggling for its life under the pool cover, almost made me cry," she said.J