Caramelo, Brazilian horse stranded on roof by floods, is rescued

Firefighters use a raft to transport a horse after rescuing it from a roof, where it was trapped for days amid flooding, after heavy rain in Canoas, Rio Grande do Sul state, Brazil (Wesley Santos/AP)

A Brazilian horse nicknamed Caramelo by social media users who garnered national attention after a television news helicopter filmed him stranded on a rooftop in southern Brazil has been rescued.

About 24 hours after he was first spotted and with people calling for his rescue, a team in Brazil’s Rio Grande do Sul state on Thursday successfully removed Caramelo, providing a dose of hope to a beleaguered region.

Massive floods in the region have killed more than 100 people.

The brown horse had been balancing on two narrow strips of slippery asbestos for days in Canoas, a city in the Porto Alegre metropolitan area that is one of the hardest-hit areas in the state, much of which has been isolated by floodwaters.

“We found the animal in a debilitated state,” Tiago Franco, a firefighter from Sao Paulo deployed to lead the rescue, was quoted as saying in a statement from that state’s security secretariat.

“We tried to approach in a calm way.”

Firefighters and veterinarians climbed on to the mostly submerged roof, sedated and immobilised the horse and then laid him on an inflatable raft – all 770lbs of him.

The operation involved four inflatable boats and four support vessels, with firefighters, soldiers and other volunteers.

The rescue was broadcast live on television networks that filmed from their helicopters.

Social media influencer Felipe Neto sent out updates to his almost 17 million followers on X as the rescue was under way.

Afterwards, he offered to adopt him.

“Caramelo, Brazil loves you!!! My God, what happiness,” he wrote.

President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva’s wife, Janja, posted a video of herself sharing the good news with the Brazilian leader, whispering into his ear at an official event.

He smiled, gave a thumbs up and hugged her to him.

Rio Grande do Sul’s governor Eduardo Leite also celebrated the rescue, posting on X: “All lives matter, we stand firm!”

Caramelo is recovering at a veterinary hospital affiliated with a university.

Mariangela Allgayer, a veterinarian and professor at the institution, said on Thursday afternoon on social media that he arrived very dehydrated.

He is about seven years old and, based on his characteristics, was probably used as a draft animal for a cart, Bruno Schmitz, one of the veterinarians who helped rescue and evaluate Caramelo, later told television network GloboNews.

He is also very gentle, Mr Schmitz added, which greatly helped with the administration of sedatives.

A soldier evacuates a dog from a flooded area after heavy rain in Canoas, Rio Grande do Sul state, Brazil (Carlos Macedo/AP)

“It was a very difficult operation, well beyond the standards even for specialised teams. I think they had never been through something like this before, but thank God everything went well,” he said, then showed Caramelo standing up.

The stranded horse is just one of many animals rescue workers have been striving to save in recent days.

Rio Grande do Sul state agents have rescued about 10,000 animals since last week, while those in municipalities and volunteers have saved thousands more, according to the state’s housing secretariat.

Animal protection groups and volunteers have been sharing images of difficult rescues and heartwarming scenes of pets reuniting with their owners on social media.

One video that went viral shows a man crying inside a boat, hugging his four dogs after rescuers went back to his home to save them.

Heavy rains and flooding in Rio Grande do Sul have killed at least 107 people.

Another 136 are reported missing and more than 230,000 have been displaced, according to state authorities.

There is no official tally for the number of animals that have been killed or are missing, but local media have estimated the number is in the thousands.

Cars are submerged in floodwater after heavy rain in Canoas, Rio Grande do Sul state, Brazil (Carlos Macedo/AP)

Not far from where Caramelo was rescued, pet owners in Canoas celebrated as they waited in line to get donations at a makeshift animal shelter organised by volunteers.

“So much bad news, but this rescue does give people here some more hope,” said Guilherme Santos, 23, as he sought dog food for his two puppies.

“If they can rescue a horse, why not all dogs that are still missing? We can definitely do this.”

Carla Sassi, chairwoman of Grad, a Brazilian non-profit that rescues animals after disasters, said she is meeting state government officials in Canoas to discuss emergency measures to rescue pets.