Man Risked All for Drowning Horse

AN heroic rescue of a horse during last year's floods in the Gold Coast hinterland has earned Jeffrey Moss the RSPCA's highest award.

He joins an exclusive club, with only seven Humane Awards granted by the RSPCA since the award's inception in 1990.

The Humane Award is presented for extraordinary bravery in saving the life of an animal.

Mr Moss risked his own life in an attempt, ultimately unsuccessful, to save the horse on February 7 from the flood-swollen Coomera River at Oxenford.

"The Coomera River was raging and while he was attempting to secure pontoons and decking he spotted a horse that had been washed downstream trapped between two pontoons and gasping for air,' a statement from the RSPCA said.

"It was wearing a horse rug that had been caught in the wreckage and was adding to the animal's desperate plight."

Mr Moss, who lives at Oxenford, tied a rope around his waist and jumped into the water and onto the horse's back and managed to cut away the rug, finally freeing the horse and dragging it to the bank.

Tragically the stairs it was being hauled up gave way and the horse went into shock and later had to be euthanased by a vet.

"Jeff, the horse's owner and the onlookers who nominated him for the award, were distraught," the RSPCA said.

"It's obviously very sad that this extraordinary act of bravery had such a tragic outcome, however, Jeffrey Moss is a most deserving recipient of the RSPCA's Humane Award."

Mr Moss will be presented with the award by Queensland Governor Penelope Wensley tomorrow.

story: www.heraldsun.com.au