Sorry, I've had a 'mare! Horse has to be winched out of a third-floor window after getting stuck in apartment block when it escaped rising flood waters in Brazil

A horse had to be winched out of a third-floor window after getting stuck in apartment block when it escaped rising flood waters in Brazil.

The rescue operation yesterday lasted for seven hours and involved around 15 people to lift the animal.

According to the apartment block manager, the poor frightened horse had been stuck there for 10 days. 

The animal was rescued from the residential building in São Leopoldo, Vale do Sinos, in Rio Grande do Sul, according to local media.

The fire department carried out the operation and the mare was fed and given water after being freed. 

A horse had to be winched out of a third-floor window after getting stuck in apartment block when it escaped rising flood waters in Brazil

The rescue operation yesterday lasted for seven hours and involved around 15 people to lift the animal who was stuck in the third-floor flat

Captain Gularte, from the fire services, told Rio Grande do Sul: 'Probably, in a way to reach a safe place, the animal must have climbed the building's staircase, as the water was advancing, and became trapped in this apartment.'

Brazil has been plagued by heavy rain and flooding over the last few days.

According to figures released by the Rio Grande do Sul Civi Defense on Wednesday, 149 people have died and 108 are missing since rain began to fall on April 29. 

The heavy rains have displaced at least 540,000 residents from their homes in 446 cities.

A motorcycle courier was hailed as a hero after he rescued nine cats from a flooded home in Rio Grande do Sul.

Dramatic video showed Geovane de Oliveira, 31, carrying a kennel containing cats and walking out of the residence of his friend Vinicius Machado as waves from the Guibá Lake pounded a neighbourhood in the south side of Porto Alegre, the state capital.

De Oliveira could be seen holding the kennel over his right shoulder and slowly making his way through the waist-high flooded street as Machado trailed him.

'I thought I wasn't going to make it. I couldn't stand up,' de Oliveira told Brazilian news outlet G1.

The animal was rescued from the residential building in São Leopoldo, Vale do Sinos, in Rio Grande do Sul, according to local media

The fire department carried out the operation and the mare was fed and given water

The rescue, which took place Monday morning, was completed with three trips.

A Rottweiler that had been left behind with the cats in the home was also plucked out alive from the flood waters.

'We had to catch him from below, in the belly, and save him as best as we could,' de Oliveira said. 'We're fine. At least no animal died.'

The pets along with Machado and his family are currently staying in de Oliveira's home.

Santo Antônio da Patrulha Deputy Mayor Marcelo Santos was filmed holding on to the back of a jet ski with one hand while grabbing onto the lasso with the other in order to prevent another horse from being swept away in the municipality of Canoas.

Santos at one point clenched on the rope with his teeth and then reached out and grabbed the horse's halter to bring the animal close to him.

The rescue took place Monday while he and volunteers were helping residents evacuate from their homes.

'We were rescuing people, but when we saw the horse, we would never let him die,' Santos told Brazilian news outlet G1.