RSPCA, or the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, has a great mission to help animals in trouble. The organization receives a call every 30 seconds and during last year, their inspectors responded to almost 300K incidents.
While many of these tend to be pretty serious, there is always the occasional call that ends up being a laughable mistake. RSPCA has shared some of the funniest incidents they’ve encountered in 2021. Scroll down to read about the unexpected smile-worthy fails.
More info: rspca.org.uk | Facebook | Instagram | twitter.com
This post may include affiliate links.
Another Sequel To Frozen?
RSPCA animal rescue officer Shane Lynn received a report of a frozen duck stuck in an icy pond in Middlesbrough.
Shane says, “The caller claimed the bird had been stuck in the frozen pond for two days and hadn’t been able to move. As soon as I arrived and located the pond I realised my help wouldn’t be required as the duck was in fact a plastic ornament!”
Did the caller really think that a duck that was frozen for two days would still be alive?
All Aboard!
Inspector Dale Grant received a call about a squealing and crying dog, stuck on a canal boat in London.
Dale says, “I was really worried that I could be walking into a dire situation involving a dog in a really dangerous predicament but it turns out I needn’t have worried. The ‘dog’ in question turned out to be a stuffed toy tiger that had been tied onto the bow of the boat!"
I'm going to guess the boat's movement made ropes and buoys rub and creak; you can see some in the pic.
Load More Replies...Does the RSPCA send people to local optometrists after calls like this and the duck one?
Unidentified Flying Object
Animal rescue officer Lisa Miller rushed to Woolwich, London, after a call was received about a bird that was tangled in a flag pole on the roof of a block of flats.
Lisa says, “The woman had spotted the bird caught in string and tangled with the flag pole. She said the bird had been trying to fly away but couldn’t free itself. When I arrived at the scene I quickly established that I wouldn’t need to launch a rescue mission; as it was a plastic bird scarer! She was very embarrassed but we had a giggle and I told her she should go to Specsavers!”
Snake-Art
RSPCA rescuer Beth Boyd was called to rescue a snake that turned out to be part of an art installation.
She says, “It was a really weird job! When I arrived I quickly found the snake which was in fact a taxidermy snake arranged inside a block as part of an art piece! I did have a chuckle. I suppose art is there to cause a stir, and this certainly did! I left a note attached to the piece to explain that the snake was not real and to avoid any further call-outs.”
Mysterious Bags
RSPCA animal rescue officer David Holgate expected something else when he received a call about these bags.
He says, “A passerby had spotted a number of black bin bags, one of which was split open and the body of a dead badger could be seen poking out. I thought I’d be investigating the suspicious death of a beautiful badger but I was quite relieved when I arrived to find fly tipped rubbish bags containing garden waste. The upturned contents of a flower pot - clumped soil and plant roots - did look suspicious from a distance.”
"Bird" That Couldn't Fly
A motorist called RSPCA to report a bird that's tangled in electric fencing on the water after the river burst its banks and flooded into neighboring fields.
RSPCA officer Graham said, “I went out to check on the bird and had prepared to call out the water rescue team for back-up but, before they hit the road, I managed to get closer and get a good look at the ‘bird’ - which turned out to be a white plastic chair floating in the water!”
King Cobra That Doesn't Bite
A woman and her son got scared after seeing a snake on a garden chair and called for help. To their surprise, the snake didn't out to be real.
Animal rescuer Martyn says, “It didn’t take me too long to realise that this King Cobra was the plastic kind - thankfully too, as they are deadly venomous snakes. Obviously, we are trained to be able to identify snakes but it is not so obvious to members of the public - so I understand they may have been spooked by the sighting. It appears that the toy had come from children in a neighbouring garden - so the snake has now been returned to its home!”
I feel you. My kids have a couple of fake snakes. Not enough for being a every day seeing toy but many enough to make my heart jump every once and a while when I spot them around the house as they look so realistic. Damm zoo souvenir store.
3ft-Long Visitor
In Prestwich, Greater Manchester, a man spotted a 3ft-long snake in his garden and kept an eye on it for a while. After the snake hadn’t moved two hours later he called the RSPCA.
Inspector Demi said, “When I arrived I had my grasping pole ready to safely grab the snake. It's really important to approach these situations to confine the animal as safely as possible, particularly if it’s suspected that the snake may be venomous. However, it didn’t take me too long to realise that this snake was the plastic kind.”
I live in Florida, where we have all sorts of animal stories. Locally, we had a woman call the fire department to rescue a kitten crying in her wall. The fire department arrived, told her they'd have to damage the wall to extract the kitten. She agreed. They opened a hole and the kitten fled. They summoned experts. News crews arrived. Many hours and half a dozen walls later, they finally got the kitten cornered, to discover it was a half dollar sized tree frog that could make the most ear piercing cry.
That story is better than the whole post! (I googled and listened to tree frogs - could have fooled me)
Load More Replies...I saw a big snake by the side of the bicycle path and almost barfed up my own heart. It was an old discarded dog leash.
My mums wife had a funny one last year and she had to go investigate. Aparently a drunk couple who were beach fishing saw a yowie (google aboriginal folklore if you don’t know, it’s too long to explain). And it tried to walk toward them etc. She came home in tears laughing cos the drunk couple were hysterical and the wife was crying and then she (mums wife) had to file paperwork on a ‘kangaroo mistaken for a yowie’. The kangaroo was spotted more down the beach and was massive
I convinced myself that I saw a bunyip in a cave when I was about 12. I suspect it was one of the rock formations and an overactive imagination.
Load More Replies...in the UK a few years ago there was a panic involving a huge escaped tiger laying in a field, a helicopter and animal experts with tranquilizers tried to rescue it and the wind from the helicopter blew it away and they realised it a giant stuffed toy lol 😂 at least they tried to rescue it! https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-hampshire-13491268
Why? Why couldn't the jerks who dumped the garden waste empty the bags and take the plastic back home? Reminds of when I see dog shat bags left on the side of hiking trails. Surely the dookie would've been less harm to the environment.
I do not understand these. In Britain the RSPCA, whenever people I know have called, they have been fobbed off. I rang about a missing dog, they told me to go to the dog warden they do not take in dogs (?). Cats at a company needed desperate help. they did actually go, accompanied by the TV people, took 1 cat and kittens, leaving at least 8 behind, never to be seen again. No TV, no RSPCA, will not give them 1p of my money, they have millions stashed in their banks i have been informed by other reputable animals rescues..
The RSPCA has become a disgraceful organisation. Some time in the 90s a neighbour abandoned her flat and left her dog locked inside and her cat outside. We called them out, they sealed the door shut and told us not to touch it or try to rescue the dog as they wanted to see if she came back to the house to sort her pets out and said they would be back in TWO weeks. We knew very well no one was ever going to come and feed and water the dog so we fed him dog biscuits and let him drink from a hose stuck through the letter box. The poor dog was howling, crying, desperate to get out. Eventually my dad said enough is enough, took the lock out of the door and got the poor dog out. He found an old arm chair with chunks bitten out of it where the dog had tried to eat the foam. Took the dog to the police to be housed in kennels they usually took stray animals to, reported the RSPCAs inaction and reported the girl who’d left her pets. We didn’t tell them about the cat, we kept her.
I got a call once for a roadrunner that had been brought into a master bedroom closet by their cat through a cat door. (Roadrunner was treated and released after a few weeks).
Haha, that sounds like that duck that a cat dragged into a house in England. The video went the rounds soon after COVID hit and was very cheering.
Load More Replies...These were not 911 calls, they're all calls to the RSPCA - Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals..as in the UK. None of them have anything to do with HIPAA, that's only in the U.S. & only to do with the release of private medical info of humans.
Load More Replies...I live in Florida, where we have all sorts of animal stories. Locally, we had a woman call the fire department to rescue a kitten crying in her wall. The fire department arrived, told her they'd have to damage the wall to extract the kitten. She agreed. They opened a hole and the kitten fled. They summoned experts. News crews arrived. Many hours and half a dozen walls later, they finally got the kitten cornered, to discover it was a half dollar sized tree frog that could make the most ear piercing cry.
That story is better than the whole post! (I googled and listened to tree frogs - could have fooled me)
Load More Replies...I saw a big snake by the side of the bicycle path and almost barfed up my own heart. It was an old discarded dog leash.
My mums wife had a funny one last year and she had to go investigate. Aparently a drunk couple who were beach fishing saw a yowie (google aboriginal folklore if you don’t know, it’s too long to explain). And it tried to walk toward them etc. She came home in tears laughing cos the drunk couple were hysterical and the wife was crying and then she (mums wife) had to file paperwork on a ‘kangaroo mistaken for a yowie’. The kangaroo was spotted more down the beach and was massive
I convinced myself that I saw a bunyip in a cave when I was about 12. I suspect it was one of the rock formations and an overactive imagination.
Load More Replies...in the UK a few years ago there was a panic involving a huge escaped tiger laying in a field, a helicopter and animal experts with tranquilizers tried to rescue it and the wind from the helicopter blew it away and they realised it a giant stuffed toy lol 😂 at least they tried to rescue it! https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-hampshire-13491268
Why? Why couldn't the jerks who dumped the garden waste empty the bags and take the plastic back home? Reminds of when I see dog shat bags left on the side of hiking trails. Surely the dookie would've been less harm to the environment.
I do not understand these. In Britain the RSPCA, whenever people I know have called, they have been fobbed off. I rang about a missing dog, they told me to go to the dog warden they do not take in dogs (?). Cats at a company needed desperate help. they did actually go, accompanied by the TV people, took 1 cat and kittens, leaving at least 8 behind, never to be seen again. No TV, no RSPCA, will not give them 1p of my money, they have millions stashed in their banks i have been informed by other reputable animals rescues..
The RSPCA has become a disgraceful organisation. Some time in the 90s a neighbour abandoned her flat and left her dog locked inside and her cat outside. We called them out, they sealed the door shut and told us not to touch it or try to rescue the dog as they wanted to see if she came back to the house to sort her pets out and said they would be back in TWO weeks. We knew very well no one was ever going to come and feed and water the dog so we fed him dog biscuits and let him drink from a hose stuck through the letter box. The poor dog was howling, crying, desperate to get out. Eventually my dad said enough is enough, took the lock out of the door and got the poor dog out. He found an old arm chair with chunks bitten out of it where the dog had tried to eat the foam. Took the dog to the police to be housed in kennels they usually took stray animals to, reported the RSPCAs inaction and reported the girl who’d left her pets. We didn’t tell them about the cat, we kept her.
I got a call once for a roadrunner that had been brought into a master bedroom closet by their cat through a cat door. (Roadrunner was treated and released after a few weeks).
Haha, that sounds like that duck that a cat dragged into a house in England. The video went the rounds soon after COVID hit and was very cheering.
Load More Replies...These were not 911 calls, they're all calls to the RSPCA - Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals..as in the UK. None of them have anything to do with HIPAA, that's only in the U.S. & only to do with the release of private medical info of humans.
Load More Replies...