Fox stuck in a wheel among RSPCA’s most unusual rescues of 2019

With the New Year less than two days away, the RSPCA have released images of some of the most unusual rescue missions of 2019 including a fox trapped in a car wheel and a seal on a cliff.

Inspectors often have to deal with shocking incidents of cruelty and neglect – but they also come across animals who need rescuing from more light-hearted situations.

Storage centre workers in Bristol called in the charity after they found a fox with his head stuck in a wheel in October. They rubbed lubricant over his head to smooth his rescue before they took Michelin back to the area he was found and set him free.

In September, rescuers came to the aid of a young seal who was stuck on a 50m-high sea cliff in Pembrokeshire, Wales.

RSPCA animal collection officer Cara Gibbon came to the aid of another fox in Solihull in October who got tangled up in ivy.

She said: ‘I was able to cut him down and, thankfully, he wasn’t injured. His nails were a little worn down from scratching at the fence but I was able to release him back into the gardens straight away.’

Back in February, Scarborough Sea Life Centre called for help in rescuing an injured grey seal from the top of a 10ft high World War Two pillbox on Fraisthorpe Beach, Yorkshire.

The centre was tipped off by a member of the public who said the seal had been stuck for more than 24 hours.

RSPCA animal collection officer Leanne Honess-Heather and deputy chief inspector Claire Mitchell manoeuvred him into a net and, supporting his weight between them, carefully lowered him.

He was returned to the wild the following day.

Pictures also show a deer stuck in park railings, a squirrel trapped in a bird feeder and a horse stuck in a cattle grid.