An albino cow that was rescued from a slaughterhouse nearly lost its life a second time after it fell into a fish pond in central Thailand.

Villagers found the visibly fatigued farm animal stranded in the pond behind a temple in Prachinburi province on March 30. It appeared to have slipped down the muddy steep banks into the water about 4.5 metres deep.

Rescue volunteers arrived and spent 30 minutes trying to tie some rope around the cow's body to pull it up from the pond. Their attempts ended in failure, however, as the 100-kilogram bovine was too frightened and had trouble standing upright due to its deformed left hind leg.

They then brought forklifts from the Si Maha Phot district and successfully hauled the cow onto dry land after 20 minutes. The exhausted cow was seen lying on the grass to recover while a monk rubbed its body to calm it down.

Phra Wiwat Sapprasong, a 50-year-old monk of the Phra Luk Hua Wa temple said the cow named Boon Rawd was rescued from a slaughterhouse and allowed to live freely because of its handicapped hind leg.

He said: 'Usually, our daily routine is to release the cows to graze and go about our work. When I came back to check on them, the cow had fallen into the pond.'