Michelle Melaragno knows how to get a terrified, half-ton horse out of an overturned trailer. She knows how to get large farm animals out of a barn during a fire and rescue a workhorse that’s broken through the ice. She knows how to train others to do the same dangerous work.   

And as chairwoman of the Maine Equine Welfare Alliance, she’s working to improve the lives of all Maine horses, stuck on the ice or not.

Name: Michelle Melaragno

Age: 41 (and counting!)

Town: Auburn

Pets: Horses, dogs, cats, guinea pigs

Job: Director of operations for HEART Equine Ambulance (Humane Equine Aid and Rapid Transport); assistant instructor  for Technical Large Animal Emergency Rescue (TLAER)

Volunteer: Maine Equine Welfare Alliance; Androscoggin County Animal Response Team; Whistle Ridge Guinea Pig Rescue/Sanctuary; Greater Androscoggin Humane Society

When did you begin working for/with animals? At age 12, I began volunteering at the SPCA (now Greater Androscoggin Humane Society) and I’ve been involved with them for almost 30 years now. I’ve been riding horses recreationally since about 7 or 8 years of age and have had my own horses for 20 years. I have worked as veterinary technician, animal assisted activities coordinator and farm manager for a group home, and barn manager for a large equine facility.

What is the HEART Equine Ambulance? HEART contracts with large-scale horse shows throughout many U.S. states. In the same way that an EMS unit is on grounds for human sporting events, the HEART Equine Ambulance is present at horse competitions. We respond to injury or illness incidents and provide professional removal of the horse (it might walk onto the trailer/ambulance or might be anesthetized and placed on a Rescue Glide — large animal stretcher) and transported to the nearest equine veterinary hospital. HEART utilizes a custom-designed ambulance that is equipped with state-of-the-art large animal rescue equipment, and a technically trained team of ambulance attendants.

Does it have a siren? No siren for us! You can imagine how most horses would react at hearing a loud siren! I’m sure the workload for our ambulance attendants would increase to an unmanageable level! We do have emergency lights that we can use AFTER we have the animal safely secured on the ambulance.

What’s one thing horse owners should know about getting their animals out of an emergency situation? Do not delay calls to 911 or to the veterinarian. With Maine being a very rural state, the instinct is to call the neighbors or other folks with large animal experience and farm equipment. There are now teams established throughout the state that can assist, even by phone, with the performance of a safe and effective rescue. It is crucial, once the animal has been removed from its predicament, that a veterinary exam is conducted. There are so many cases of successful rescue, without proper veterinary care followups, where animals perish within hours or days.

What’s your most memorable rescue?  While I was working at one barn, some folks arrived with a trailer to pick up a horse. There were two horses already loaded, and we assume one of them was stung by a bee. He bucked, knocked the divider out of its locked position, and somehow hung one of his legs up over the divider. When I arrived at the trailer, his hindquarters were suspended off the floor of the trailer. Emergency responders stated they could not help with animal calls, and the closest vet was 45 minutes away. Thankfully, someone arrived with a reciprocating saw and was able to cut the divider from the trailer wall. The injured horse was immediately transported to an equine clinic, and he made a full recovery.

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