SAN YSIDRO, Calif. (KGTV) — More than two dozen horses were rescued from rising flood waters by border patrol agents in San Ysidro Monday afternoon.
According to U.S. Customs and Border Protection, they received calls from ranchers around 12:30 p.m. for help in saving their horses from rising flood waters near the Tijuana River Valley Regional Park.
27 horses were saved by Imperial Beach's Horse Patrol Unit. 21 of those horses were taken to the IB Border Patrol stables and the other six were taken to nearby ranches outside the flood zone.
“We love horses, and we love our community,” said Special Operations Supervisor Mauro Lopez who oversees the Horse Patrol Unit.
“They both needed help and we had the skills and equipment to do so, so we got our team together and headed to the area.”
Border Patrol says it has a long history of assisting the community during floods and fires. In September 2022, San Diego Sector Border Patrol deployed field agents and the Horse Patrol Unit to Potrero, California to assist with the evacuation of people and livestock that were stranded by the Border 32 Fire.
“San Diego Sector Border Patrol maintains strong relationships with our local partners and when emergencies hit, we are ready to help.” said Chief Patrol Agent Aaron Heitke.
“I’m glad we were able to assist our neighbors with getting their horses to safety from the flood area.”
ABC 10News caught up with the owner of one of the flooded ranches on Tuesday.
"All my feed is ruined," said Jim Sandoval, who estimates his ranch sustained thousands of dollars in damage. "Welders, machines...all the equipment that I had was underwater, so I don’t know if it’s rescuable."
Sandoval evacuated amid rising flood waters along with his animals. He and others impacted say they'll have to wait until the water fully drains to fully assess their loss.
