Top 10 RSPCA animal rescues

The RSPCA dealt with more than a million calls in 2015 - which range from tragic incidents of neglect to the most hilarious tight-spot situations imaginable.

To top off one of their busiest years ever, the charity have rounded up its ten top rescues from the past year, including a fox had to be rescued after it was found with its head impressively caught between two wooden fence panels.

The fox was hanging so still that RSPCA animal collection officer Bryan Moffitt thought it was dead.

But after the fox was removed, the ginger-furred escape artist was found to be fine and was released the same day.

A rogue corn snake got itself into a sticky situation after affixing itself to an adhesive trap meant for catching mice in central London.

The snake was rushed to the Putney Animal Hospital where he was carefully freed.

A newly born foal from Chobham, Surrey, was discovered inside an enormous hole in the ground.

She was rescued and hand-reared by workers at the Millbrook Animal centre, where it is hoped she will find a new home this year.

Other incidents include a dog which got itself wedged in a reclining chair in Manchester, a sheep that needed to be rescued by abseiling rescuers after it got stuck on a sea cliff and a slinky-like ferret wedged between two metal railings.

A litter of mastiff-cross puppies were found abandoned in a litter bin, in Queensferry, Deeside. The pups were so young some of them still had umbilical cords attached.

Luckily the seven puppies have been rehomed.

A weak and dehydrated cow also had to be rescued by the RSPCA and local firefighters in Limousin, Derbyshire, after its head got stuck between two trees.

The cow was surrounded by four uncastrated bulls that had to be shooed away with jets of water.

A lucky cat had the ride of its life from Manchester airport to Stockport stuck inside a driver’s engine.

The cat, later nicknamed Lucky, was later reunited with his family who were on holiday in Dubai.

Finally a hedgehog was saved after he misjudged his own girth and wedged in between two railings of a gate.

A passer-by spotted the little hedgehog and he was later rescued by the RSPCA and local firefighters.

A spokesperson for the RSPCA said: “Between January 1 2015 and December 31 2015, the RSPCA’s 24-hour cruelty line received 1,118,495 calls from the public.

“Some of those callers were given advice or put in touch with alternative agencies, while other reports were investigated by inspectors as possible neglect or cruelty cases, and others led to dramatic animal rescues.”

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