CHESTERTON, Ind. — A new large animal rescue group in Indiana performed what, so far, was its biggest task after a double-decker trailer carrying calves overturned last month in the northwest part of the state.

About 150 of the calves survived the Dec. 23 rollover at Chesterton. Nearly 50 calves died in the incident.

The Chesterton Fire Department requested help from the Indiana District 1 Large Animal Emergency Rescue Team after the trailer wound up on its side while turning from Indiana 49 into the entrance of the Indiana Toll Road.

The rescue team of more than a dozen all volunteer members with experience in handling livestock and other animals like horses.

Irene Malamatos, the founder of the organization, said each member has also undergone specialized training in animal rescues.

Malamatos, for example, has three horses on her 10 acres in Lowell,  Ind., where she also raises hay.

“Most of my knowledge is from having animals for so long,” she said.

Malamatos said the group also has a volunteer veterinarian, who euthanized four of the calves because of the extent of their injuries.

“They just couldn’t get up. They seemed in shock and immobile,” she said.

Malamatos said the surviving calves were housed at a nearby farm until the owner of the animals could send another tractor trailer to resume the trip to their destination in Iowa.

None of the calves got loose from the overturned trailer.

Malamatos said all of them remained inside until they were helped out through an opening emergency responders cut in the top of the roof.

She said Waffco Towing company brought metal panels that were set up to create a wall on both sides for leading the surviving calves into other trailers without risk of them getting loose.

“When we got there, it was just a matter of helping to unload the calves that were viable into trailers,” she said.

The 13-member animal rescue team responds to calls in Lake, Porter, LaPorte, Newton and Jasper counties.

Most of the volunteers are firefighters, paramedics and emergency medical technicians from Lowell, Dyer and Crown Point. Malamatos is a paramedic with the Tri-Creek Ambulance Service and chief of emergency medical services for the Lowell Fire Department.

Malamatos said she founded the organization nearly a year ago in response to a need she felt existed in an area where a good-sized number of livestock are raised on farms and pass through on their way to other locations.

Members have also responded to calls for the rescue of a deer caught in a sewage treatment plant in Gary. They helped two horses in Hebron stand up after falling.

Malamatos said one of the horses had just started being nursed back to good health but was still emaciated and weak after a rescue from a neglectful caregiver. The other was a draft horse that apparently fell inside a semi-trailer during transport. She said straps were placed around the draft horse to get the animal back up on its feet with help from a crane brought to the scene by a local towing company.

Malamatos said the organization is still working on adding more rescue equipment to what it now has in stock and any other necessary training needed by its members.

The group is also trying to be added to the call lists of more police and fire departments in its service territory so more of them know who to contact when the need arises.

“We’re working on our growth right now. We’ll still in the very beginning stages,” she said.