RSPCA worker rescues trapped deer using washing-up liquid
'It was quicker than washing the dinner pots and so much more rewarding'
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Your support makes all the difference.A deer that got stuck between the bars of a metal gate was rescued by an RSPCA officer who arrived at the scene armed with a bottle of washing-up liquid.
The muntjac deer had got trapped when it attempted to leap through a six-inch gap between two metal railings.
Passersby alerted the RSPCA after spotting the distressed and bleeding animal in the gate of a house on Heath Croft Road in Sutton Coldfield.
Animal collection officer Catherine Strawford rushed to help the deer after being alerted of its situation on Wednesday afternoon.
After failing to free the animal at first, she rubbed washing-up liquid all over its fur to lubricate it.
Ms Strawford spent a further 20 minutes gently easing the animal out of the railings before it was free.
She cleaned the animal's wounds before leaving it to return to the wild.
Ms Strawford said: “Using the washing-up liquid enabled me to free the deer within 20 minutes.
“It was quicker than washing the dinner pots and so much more rewarding.
“The deer had obviously been running in the area at night and thought he could get through the railings in the gates but misjudged the gap.
“As he tried to go forward he was unable to move as the metal had trapped him between his hips and his waist.
“He had obviously been there a while so must have been terrified. Luckily he was spotted and we were called to help.
“We tend to be called to help quite a lot of deer trapped in this way and I always try and use washing-up liquid or cooking oil to try to ease them from the railings.
“It is often much easier and less stressful for the deer than calling on the help of fire and rescue, but of course if I couldn’t have eased him out I would have called for their help.
“It was great to see him happily run off and hopefully he will learn from this lesson.”
SWNS
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