Rescue

Every year we receive hundreds of thousands of calls reporting animals in need. In 2009 we collected and rescued 135,295 animals.  

We rescue animals from: 

• cruelty
• accidents and injury
• abandonment
• disasters.

Rescued from accidents and injury

Pets, wildlife and farm animals all find themselves in need of a little assistance from time to time. When they do, we're here to help.

Here are just some of the accidents we have attended recently:

• a cat stranded in a tree who was caught in a snare
• a runaway badger who fell into a motorway drain
• an active fox cub caught in sports netting. 

Our officers get called out to all sorts of accidents, from the ordinary to the extraordinary.  Read some of our more unusual rescue stories.

Rescued from cruelty

In 2009 we secured 2,579 convictions.

In September of the same year our Special Operations Unit (SOU) worked with the police and the BBC to smash one of the UK’s biggest dog fighting gangs, resulting in 10 convictions.  

Sadly, our centres are full of victims of cruelty who need loving new homes. If you can offer a pet a 'forever home' visit our rehoming pages.

Abandoned animals rescued

With your help, we give abandoned animals a second chance.

It is never ok to abandon an animal and yet we regularly receive calls from concerned members of the public about animals who have been left out in the cold.
 

This three-and-a-half foot iguana was found sheltering under a tree, in freezing temperatures at the end of January 2010.

The lizard originates from South America and wouldn't have survived if we hadn’t taken her in. Thankfully we managed to find her a suitable home.

Rescued from disaster

When disaster strikes we react fast.

 

When devastating floods struck the small Cumbrian village of Cockermouth we worked alongside the emergency service, offering help and assistance to families and their animals.

Amongst the rescues were:

• a flock of 200 stranded sheep in a field
• six cattle and 20 sheep trapped in rising floods
• eight cats and a collapsed dog from flood stricken homes
• a horse trapped in a flooded paddock.

We also help animals overseas; when an earthquake measuring 7.0 on the Richter Scale hit Haiti we joined forces with the Animal Relief Coalition for Haiti (ARCH) to help raise over $1 million to help millions of animals in need across the country.