The RSPCA

A swan crash landing on Leicester’s National Space Centre, a cat high up on a viaduct in Huddersfield, a deer wedged in railings in East Grinstead.

These are just a few of the RSPCA’s top 17 saves of the year, picked out from the million or so calls they get every year.

The Society, which relies entirely on donations to keep going, has been celebrating a huge anniversary in 2024.

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

“We’re here for every kind; but with almost a million calls every year, we can’t do this alone. We will always use our specialist skills to help animals when we can but there are lots of ways the public can help too; after all, the quicker animal gets help the better.”

Leicester we have a problem!

One of the most eye-catching saves was an adventurous swan with his eyes on the stars.

He was on a solo flight on a nice summer’s day in June when he crash-landed on the roof of the National Space Station in Leicester. 

RSPCA inspector Allison North was called out to help: “The swan had become tangled under tarpaulin and 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!”

Oh deer…A distressed deer was lucky RSPCA officer Chloe Wilson was on hand in East Grinstead, in West Sussex back in May.

He needed urgent help after getting himself wedged in a tight gap behind a metal fence on the Birches Industrial Estate.

“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 and he had superficial wounds, which I treated before letting him go.

“He ran off so fast I didn’t even get a chance to say bye!”

One down, eight lives to go

And just imagine being stranded on a ledge, 45 feet above Huddersfield town centre on a viaduct – and no idea how to get down (or back up).

This is the fate that befell a cat in March when concerned shoppers spotted him and called for help.

Officer Emmeline Myall also had an adventure that day, when she had to scale the heights with the fire service in a cherry picker.

“As we went up, a couple of trains went past at speed and it must have been a terrifying experience. He was lucky to escape serious injury.

I don’t think I’ve ever rescued a cat from such a precarious situation”