Christmas rescues: RSPCA helps stuck deer and sick seal

A sick seal, a cat with cancer and a deer trapped in a fence were among the animals helped by the RSPCA over Christmas.

The charity said 7,119 animals were reported to be in need of help between 23 December and 29 December.

They included three dogs and two guinea pigs in a flooded house in Milton Keynes, and a goose trapped in a Middlesbrough chemical treatment plant.

Three entangled sheep were rescued from brambles in Wetherby on Boxing Day.

Members of the public reported a sick seal floating in shallow waters and bashing into rocks on Babbacombe Beach in Torquay on Christmas Eve.

The underweight seal, which has been named Sprouts by rescuers, is being looked after at RSPCA West Hatch Wildlife Centre in Somerset.

"We think he may have been blown into shore by a storm and was very weak and tired," said RSPCA officer Megan Higgins.

"Thankfully he's now getting specialist care and will be released back into the wild when he's strong enough."

One animal to be released was a muntjac deer which had become trapped between railings in Brookmans Park near Potters Bar on 27 December.

Animal collection officer Kate Wright said: "Perhaps she'd had a bit too much to eat over Christmas and couldn't fit through the gap.

"She was very stuck but I managed to gently inch her out backwards.

"Although she had a couple of minor grazes she was completely fine and ran off - though perhaps a little embarrassed."

In Truro, a pair of swans crash-landed in two different gardens on 22 December, with neither able to take off again.

"I was able to catch both swans and reunite them which was lovely to see," said officer Abi Kemp.

"Luckily they weren't injured so we released them down on to the water so they could spend Christmas paddling around together where they belong."

A goose frightened a family in Burnley when it crashed into their house on Christmas Day.

"The poor goose flew into the wall, tumbled down the extension roof and landed in the garden," RSPCA inspector Adam Dickinson said.

"It was confused and disoriented and wandered into their garage so they shut it in and called us."

The bird was taken to the charity's Stapeley Grange Wildlife Centre in Cheshire where it will be monitored.

A stray cat was diagnosed with skin cancer on its ears in Birmingham after nearby residents raised concerns on Boxing Day.

"Local people had been feeding the cat and keeping an eye on her for some time as they were concerned about her," officer Cara Gibbon said.

Ms Gibbon said skin cancer was "surprisingly common" in white cats and the stray, which has been named Snowy, will have both ears removed at a RSPCA animal hospital.

"She'll be fine without her ears and will be much more comfortable so once she's recovered we'll try to find her a lovely new home."