Malibu Foundation’s Denise De Garmo celebrated for caring for her horses
By Barbara Burke
Special to The Malibu Times
It was torrentially pouring rain as it had been for many days when Malibu firefighters responded to a desperate call in January 2023. A very injured horse named Jane was in life-threatening peril in West Malibu.
“She was stuck within the panels of the stables,” her owner Denise DeGarmo tearfully recalled. “She was losing blood at a disastrous rate when they found her!”
Jane had slipped and fallen in the mud, severely injuring herself. She panicked and became seriously entangled in her stable’s panels, exacerbating her injuries.
Jane was alone and at risk of soon dying from her profuse bleeding. Someone finally came upon her and desperately called for help.
When they arrived, the firefighters did not have a harness or sling to transport Jane to the engine and evacuate her safely to a veterinary surgeon.
Equine veterinarian Dr. Katie Nenneker came to the rescue.
“Jane’s life-threatening scenario is an example of how our team came together in a coordinated effort with the local fire department to save an animal in dire need.” Nenneker said. “At Nenn Equine, we embody the mantra of ‘pride, passion and professionalism,’ and all of those qualities were on display as we came to help Jane that night — we were able to provide her with a calming sedative so that everyone could work safely around her to remove the panels that were severely traumatizing her leg. We stabilized her wounds and readied her for transport to the equine hospital.”
Then, lacking a proper harness or sling, firefighters had to quickly improvise.
“We lifted her with a tractor and slid hay bales under her, first brought her to sit sideways and then, we carefully brought Jane to her feet,” explained Jeff Harms, a Los Angeles County Fire Department battalion chief.
Then, it took several men to carefully carry her to the firetruck.
“The firemen are locals,” said Sherman Baylin, Malibu’s perennial go-to source for locals when their animals are in dire straits. “They truly care about our large animals and they saved Jane that day!”
Nenneker described Jane’s arduous course of treatment.
“Dr. Kent Sullivan of West Coast Equine Hospital performed multiple surgical procedures on Jane’s limb and he was very integral to her healing process,” Nenneker said. “The healing process was an incredible story involving a field rescue, multiple doctors, long hospital stays, and many rehabilitation treatments, culminating in a happy ending for Jane when she was able to leave the hospital and be reunited with her partner, Gidget.”
Transforming a tragedy into solutions
Jane had a very close call and evacuating her was tricky and challenging, the responding firemen recounted as they gathered, with a now-healed Jane, a stunningly gorgeous thoroughbred, a relieved and very determined DeGarmo, two Malibu City Councilmembers and two representatives from Supervisor Lindsay Horvath’s office.
They all assembled near the horse stables at Brian Boudreau’s Malibu Valley Stables on the afternoon of July 25.
The occasion — DeGarmo’s presentation of a large animal sling to the Los Angeles County Fire Department overseeing animal rescues in and near Malibu. The sling will be housed at the Point Dume fire station.
You see, after Jane got surgery and started her lengthy rehabilitation, DeGarmo did not just think, “Boy, did I and Jane get lucky! I’m so glad the firefighters found a workaround since they didn’t have a large animal sling!”
No! You see, DeGarmo’s one of those old time Malibu locals — the kind that get determined and don’t take no for an answer. The kind that will dedicate time and effort to find a “yes” answer. The kind that built Malibu.
Resolved that no other horse or other large animal injured and in need of transport in or near Malibu would face first responders without a proper harness, DeGarmo, in coordination with the Malibu Foundation for which she works, began seeking grants to help fund the purchase of a large animal harness.
The Malibu Foundation applied for — and received — a grant from the City of Malibu. The sling will be used for large animal emergencies of all types and can even be used in airlift rescues.
“Having this sling provides us with having every option on the table when we face an emergency and have to extract a large animal,” Assistant Chief Drew Smith of the Los Angeles Fire Department said.
“This is what Malibu is all about! We have horses who are also residents of Malibu.” said Malibu City Councilmember Steve Uhring, a member of the city’s Administrative Finance Committee that reviewed the grant application.
“Malibu has a $200,000 pool of money set aside for various causes,” Councilmember Bruce Silverstein explained. “We want to give grants that benefit the residents — this was a very easy decision for the council which easily approved the grant request.”
Horvath’s representative, Sophia Sudani, noted, “We have to be responsive to all of our constituents and be aware that areas near Malibu are horse country and we need to have all the tools available in animal rescue operations.”
The takeaway
This is not just a story about a horse that got really lucky, her loyal owner, some quick-thinking firefighters who saved her, and some very talented large animal doctors who operated on her and shepherded her through a long recovery.
No! Rather, this story also evinces that DeGarmo’s tireless efforts through the Malibu Foundation seeking a grant to purchase the large animal sling makes for a different and equally great story — a story about how grants available in the nonprofit sector can help supplement publicly funded organizations to ensure that residents — and their animals — can receive emergency services or can fill any of a myriad of needs that are not completely publicly funded.
Beautifully, it is a story of how a gorgeous horse named Jane and her indefatigable owner demonstrated that it’s really worth it to assiduously apply for grants — again and again — until funding is acquired.
“It’s great to tell a story that we’re a little town that can come together for this horse and our fire department,” DeGarmo said. “It just proves that Malibu is a city with a heart!”