Six cows had to be rescued from a pongy 80cm deep cesspit.
Over 40 firefighters and a vet were sent to the liquid manure pit.
Due to the stinky gases and lack of light in the cesspool, firefighters had to use torches and wear breathing apparatus.
The dark pit was situated below a horse stable at a farm in Waltrop, just north of Dortmund in Germany.
Jochen Möckinghoff, 53, spokesperson for the Waltrop Fire Brigade, called the operation “extremely physically demanding.”
The rescue operation took place at around 10am on 5 July.
Firefighters had to first set up a makeshift staircase for the six cows to walk up.
With breathing masks on, rescuers descended into the manure pit to assist the poo-covered bovine.
The muck was around 80cm (31ins) deep.
A security team was also sent in case the rescuers got into a sticky situation themselves.
It is unclear how the six cows ended up in the predicament in the first place.
Last year, firefighters had to rescue a hapless cow that somehow trapped its head in the fork of a willow tree, in Chilbolton, Hampshire.
Hampshire and Isle of Wight Fire and Rescue Service said the willow tree had to be cut so they could “moove” the trapped animal, adding that the situation was “udderly ridiculous.”
It is unclear how the animal got itself in such a pickle.
