RSPCA Rescues Animals in Unique Situations: Humorous and Heartwarming Stories in 2024

RSPCA says: ‘Let’s all work together to help every kind’

For 200 years the RSPCA has been there for animals of all shapes and sizes, in all sorts of peculiar situations, 365 days a year.

Whether it’s a deer trapped in a tiny gap between two brick walls, a swan crash-landed on the National Space Centre roof, a fox with a planter stuck on his head, or a buzzard tangled in a fence [pictured]; the RSPCA’s team of expert rescuers are on hand to help whenever they can.

RSPCA Chief Inspectorate Officer Steve Bennett said: “For 200 years the RSPCA’s dedicated and passionate team of rescuers have been helping animals in need.

“We’re here for every kind; but with almost 1 million calls for help every year, we can’t do this alone.

“We’re incredibly grateful to all of the animal-loving members of the public who have helped rescue animals themselves, taken them to vets for specialist care, as well as the other agencies who help save the lives of animals in need, from the fire service to the police to small local rescues!

“We will always use our specialist skills to help animals when we can and we’re grateful to other agencies for working with us to help animals in need.

“But there are also lots of ways the public can help animals themselves too; after all, the quicker an animal gets help, the better.

“If we all work together, we can create a kinder and better world for all animals.”

Here, the RSPCA shares some of its most humorous and heartwarming tails from 2024:

1. Wedged between walls

The RSPCA and fire service helped rescue a deer who was wedged upside down in a tiny gap between two houses in Lough, Lincolnshire.

Rescuers used ropes and poles to slowly pull the muntjac through the gap, between two walls, to safety, on 25 January.

Animal Rescue Officer Karen Nix said: “This was a tricky rescue because the deer was trapped so tightly and, to complicate matters, was also upside down – it must have been terrifying for him. Thankfully, he was freed and it was such a relief to watch him run free into the undergrowth.”

A Lincolnshire Fire and Rescue spokesperson said: “Lincolnshire Fire and Rescue attended an incident with the RSPCA on 25 January, just before 10am. Our crew from Louth attended along with our animal rescue specialists from Lincoln North. The crews used a short extension ladder, lines, hook and animal rescue equipment to release the muntjac deer.”

2. Cat uses one of nine lives

A cat used up one of its nine lives and needed rescuing after getting precariously stuck on the ledge of a viaduct in Huddersfield town centre, West Yorkshire.

Concerned locals called for help after spotting the cat perched 45ft up (13.7m) near the top of the bridge and Animal Rescue Officer Emmeline Myall went along with West Yorkshire Fire & Rescue Service, on 5 March. Emmeline and a firefighter went up in a cherry picker to rescue the frightened puss.

Emmeline said: “As we went up in the cherry picker to try and rescue him a couple of trains went past at speed. It must have been a terrifying experience and he was very lucky to escape serious injury. Looking at the location, he must have walked along the tracks for some time before stopping where he did. I don’t think I’ve ever rescued a cat from such a precarious situation before.”

Steven O’ Keefe, Watch Commander on Blue Watch, said: “We used the aerial appliance and sent that up with firefighter Sam Baxter and an RSPCA officer. Once we got alongside the cat we persuaded him to come closer and then got him into a cat box. It’s one of the more unusual cat rescues I’ve attended but we’re happy it all ended well.”

3. Dog rescued from fence

A dog who got awkwardly wedged between two bars in a metal fence needed rescuing by the RSPCA on 15 April.

The Cane Corso was found in Osgathorpe Park, Sheffield, in South Yorkshire, by a passerby who heard her crying and called the RSPCA for help. Animal Rescue Officer Liz Braidley went to help, managed to lift her free and took her to a local vet.

Liz said: “Thankfully she only had a small wound to her leg, but it could have been much worse as the metal fence was very sharp.”

She wasn’t microchipped so the charity took her into its care and tried to find her owner, believing she may have run off during a walk.

4. Dramatic rescue to save fox

A dramatic rescue operation was launched to save a fox cub who got stuck in a 4in (10cm) wide drainage pipe 2ft (0.6m) underground in Old Trafford, Manchester, on 17 April.

The homeowners heard the cub in their cellar wall and called Fox Rescuers for help but due to the complexity of the rescue, they called the RSPCA and Quick Drains for help. RSPCA Animal Rescue Officer Lee Ferrans went to help.

He said: “The pipe was at a right angle which meant it was really difficult to get any equipment in there to free the cub. The Quick Drains team put a camera into the pipe so we could check the fox was still breathing and thankfully he was. We could see he was very distressed, he hadn’t eaten for a few days and he needed to get out as soon as possible.

“It was decided the only way to get the fox out was to dig a hole and take out the pipe. The homeowner gave us permission and, after a lot of hard work, the fox cub was finally free. He was very shaken and very thin but also growling and trying to bite, which is a good sign.”

The four-week-old cub was taken to a local vet to be checked and then taken in by Fox Rescuers to be rehabilitated.

5. Sweet escape

A little fox cub had a sweet escape when the RSPCA came to his rescue on 28 May – after he got his head stuck in a strawberry planter.

Animal Rescue Officer Sam Matthews was called to a garden in Wandsworth, London, after the inquisitive cub got his head stuck in one of the small openings of the plastic planting pot in a garden.

Sam said: “I thought I was going to need to cut the fox out but thankfully I managed to carefully wiggle him free, one ear at a time. I checked him over and he wasn’t injured so I released him there and then so he could find his way back to the family den.”

6. In the deep end

An RSPCA officer managed to haul a waterlogged sheep from a river after she fell into the water and couldn’t get out.

Animal Rescue Officer David Cottingham rushed to a rural area on the edge of Kendal, Cumbria, on 29 May when a walker reported a sheep stuck in the River Kent.

David said: “The poor sheep was on her back with her head just above the water when I arrived. She was so heavy as her fleece was waterlogged so there’s no way she could have dragged herself back onto the bank and I really struggled to pull her from the river.

“Eventually I got her onto dry land and checked her over. Thankfully she wasn’t injured but she was exhausted so I left her to rest.”

7. Tight squeeze

A distressed deer needed urgent help after being found wedged in a tight gap behind a metal fence. The RSPCA and Surrey Fire & Rescue Service rushed to the Birches Industrial Estate in East Grinstead, West Sussex, on 31 May to help the deer.

RSPCA Animal Rescue Office Chloe Wilson said: “The deer was a big boy so we have no idea how he managed to squeeze into such a tight gap. After we cut the gate away, I checked the deer over and he had superficial wounds, which I treated on the scene before letting him go – he ran off so fast I didn’t get a chance to say bye!”

8. Flying high

A crow got tangled on an aerial after becoming caught up in a plastic bag. Officers from RSPCA Cymru went to help the stricken bird who was spotted in distress on 1 June in Swansea, Wales.

RSPCA Animal Rescue Officer Ellie West and a crew from Mid and West Fire & Rescue Service went to help. Ellie said the crew used an aerial platform to reach the bird who was trapped two storeys high.

She added: “The crow had a plastic bag wrapped around its left leg and when trying to escape he had become even more entangled. His left leg had a wound, but he was thankfully in a good body condition and was active despite his ordeal.”

He received some treatment before being released back into the wild the following day. His parents came to see him and they flew off together.

9. Purr-fect rescue

Rescuers from the RSPCA and London Fire Brigade spent three hours working to free a cat who’d become trapped in a tiny gap between two walls in London.

Animal Rescue Officer Jade Guthrie went out to Hebdon Road, Tooting Beck, on 3 June after a member of the public found the cat trapped between the brick walls.

She said: “I realised there was no way I’d be able to reach the cat so I called the fire brigade for assistance. They managed to break a hole into the wall and I reached in and carefully pulled him free.

“I’d like to say a big thank you to the caller who agreed for us to cut a hole in his garage wall so we could free this poor cat, and to the fire brigade for their support in the rescue.”

Buttons the cat was microchipped so was returned to his owner nearby. He’d been stuck for more than five hours and his owners were shocked to hear about his ordeal but were relieved to have him home.

10. To infinity and beyond!

‘Leicester; we have a problem!’ A swan needed help after crash landing on the roof of the National Space Centre, in Leicester, during a solo flight.

RSPCA Inspector Allison North was called to the centre on 12 June and worked with the maintenance team to access the roof and catch the swan. She said: “The swan had crash landed on the roof and became tangled under tarpaulin so wasn’t able to take back off again.

“Thankfully we managed to get to him, check him over and he wasn’t injured so we released him back into the wild. Hopefully, he won’t be trying to fly off to infinity and beyond anytime soon!”

11. Cat-acombs!

A cat who disappeared into an underground basement at St.Paul’s Cathedral was rescued by the RSPCA. The cat tumbled 15ft down a shaft near to the outer walls of the London landmark and ended up trapped in the dark basement below the cathedral.

Fortunately, a schoolgirl who realised the cat’s predicament after watching her dash through a narrow opening at ground level at St. Paul’s Churchyard contacted the RSPCA and Animal Rescue Officer Sidonie Smith went to help on 2 July.

The cathedral had closed for the day but with the permission of on-site security, and accompanied by a security officer, she climbed down beneath the cathedral to search for the cat.

“When I spoke to security about gaining access it turned out it was an opening down to an old storage basement that apparently no-one has used a key to get down to for 25 years,” Sidonie said.

“Fortunately, the cat had fallen onto a bed of leaves and she was largely unscathed. She’d shot through the gap above and dropped down into the basement.”

The cat – a Burmese – was named Paula by RSPCA staff who took her in.

12. Caught red-handed

A fox cub needed a helping hand from an RSPCA rescuer after she got her paws stuck between the slats of a wooden garden chair in Surrey.

Animal Rescue Officer Chloe Wilson went to a home in Reigate on 20 July after someone called to report the stricken fox.

She said: “When I arrived, the young female fox had cuts on her legs where she’d been pulling and tugging to try to free herself. Another fox cub was hiding nearby so I suspect they’d been playing on the furniture when she somehow managed to get herself trapped.

“I put on some thick gloves and approached the vixen slowly and, thankfully, was slowly able to lift her up and free her paws.”

She had some open wounds on her legs so Chloe took her to Wildlife Aid Foundation, in Leatherhead, for treatment and rehabilitation.

13. Fall from grace

A large rescue mission was launched after a cat fell 10m into a storm tank at a sewage plant in Warwickshire.

The ginger cat was spotted by a plant worker who called for help and RSPCA officer Nicola Johnson and Warwickshire Fire and Rescue Service went to help at the Severn Trent site in Nuneaton, on 1 September.

Nicola said: “The poor cat was 10m down there – he must have gotten in by falling. We don’t know how long he had been in there as it might have taken time for someone to notice a cat was in there – it’s not something you expect to see!”

Fire fighters used a ladder to climb into the tank and capture the cat using a net – who they named Trent – and Nicola checked him over. He was scared but, thankfully had no injuries. He was taken in by the team at RSPCA Birmingham Animal Centre.

14. It’s raining cats and… foxes

The RSPCA came to the rescue of two fox cubs who fell 10ft (3m) through a broken skylight and got trapped inside an empty flat in Kent.

Police called the RSPCA for help after the startled fox cubs chose not to leave through an open door and Inspector Tina Nash went to the property in Ramsgate on 27 September.

She said: “The two cubs were crouched on top of the kitchen wall cabinets and were clearly very frightened. There was shattered glass all over the floor as well as a brick so we believe the skylights had been smashed and the foxes, who were exploring the flat roof above, fell through and got stuck.”

She managed to catch the foxes, check them over for injuries and release them in a nearby park.

15. In a flap

Rescuers worked together to save a buzzard who got trapped in a fence in Witton Park, near Bishops Auckland, County Durham.

Police spotted the stricken bird and called the RSPCA for help. Deputy Chief Inspector John Lawson and Inspector Cathy Maddison went to help the bird of prey, on 16 October.

The bird was trapped by his neck and it’s believed he’d been trapped for some time, but the officers were able to free him and rushed him to a nearby vet for urgent treatment.

16. Sticky situation

The RSPCA came to the rescue of a poor magpie who’d got caught in a glue trap in Leicestershire.

Animal Rescue Officer Hollie Morrall was called to a residential street off Spinney Hill Park, Leicester, on 5 November after a passerby found the bird with the glue trap stuck to his feathers and glue stuck around his beak.

Hollie took the bird to a local vet where they were able to carefully free him from the glue trap and clean up his feathers. He then went to a local rehabilitation centre for specialist care.

17. Stuck fast

A fox had a lucky escape after getting his head stuck through a tight gap in a brick wall at a London home.

The surprised owners of the home, in Putney, discovered the injured fox on 25 November stuck through a gap in a wall between two basement floor courtyards.

RSPCA Inspector Jade Guthrie was able to free the fox by gently guiding his head out of the gap, and due to his condition, transported him to Wildlife Aid in Surrey for further treatment.

Jade said: “I imagine he fell into the basement courtyard and was unable to climb out, so poked his head into the gap in the wall looking for somewhere to hide, but found he was unable to get out.”