Firefighters on South Whidbey rescued three animals from precarious situations in the last couple of weeks.

Following a four-hour effort, firefighters successfully extricated a cow stuck in the mud Wednesday afternoon.

According to Deputy Chief Terry Ney, South Whidbey Fire/EMS responded to the scene just before 4 p.m. at the request of the Island County Sheriff’s Office. The crews arrived at the field off of Maxwelton Road to find the bovine submerged in a mucky spot.

Working with members of the public, the crew freed the cow from her situation, where she had been stuck since early that morning. Rescuers dug down and secured a strap under her chest, and then using a neighbor’s tractor and some sheets of plywood, lifted her from the mire.

A veterinarian treated the cow, administering some IV fluids to perk her up. Ney said when they left the scene at around 8 p.m., she was up on her chest and munching hay.

The prior day, on Tuesday, firefighters responded to a dog stuck on a cliff in the Holmes Harbor area, near Emmet Place.

Ney said a female husky named Ceta Lou was walking on the beach with her owner when she went romping up the unstable cliff. She could not be coaxed back down, and her owner had difficulty navigating the sandy soil of the cliff that kept sliding out from underneath him.

Firefighters responded to the scene after getting the owner’s call at around 12:58 p.m. Ney said the rope rescue team lowered Firefighter Gene Reynolds down the 230-foot high cliff, and he placed the husky in a carrier sling specially designed for dogs and attached it to his harness.

Reynolds and Ceta Lou were lowered the rest of the way to the beach, where dog and owner were reunited.

The husky was retrieved unharmed.

Last week, firefighters came to the rescue of Sammy, an elderly pug who stumbled over a cliffside in the Maxwelton Beach area. A member of the high-angle rescue crew carried him to safety with nary a scratch.

Ney said the fire department typically performs between six to eight dog rescues per year. Two in the past two weeks is outside of the norm.