RSPCA reveals strangest rescues including swan stuck in Oasis’s music studio

A swan rescued from a music studio where Oasis and The Stone Roses have recorded tracks was among the most unusual callouts to the RSPCA last year.

The charity has compiled 21 of the oddest rescues of 2023, with the weirdest being an iguana called Einstein that had to be brought down from a tree.

The reptile escaped from its home in Horncastle, Lincs, in May after following the family cat through a cat flap.

The iguana had been on the run for more than a day when it was spotted 39ft up in a tree in a nearby neighbour’s garden.

The RSPCA was called and requested the assistance of the fire crew, but Einstein was sitting on a flimsy branch that was difficult to reach by ladder.

Todd Wilson, a tree surgeon, was called. He climbed up, put Einstein in a box and brought the reptile down.

In July, RSPCA inspector Paul Kempson was called to Sawmills Studio in Fowey, Cornwall, where Oasis, Muse, The Stone Roses and Jessie J have recorded music.

He was asked to rescue a swan that had an injured wing, but as the studio is only accessible by boat, Mr Kempson had to make a journey up the river to save him.

A cat called Mowgli also had to be rescued after falling into a 98ft mine shaft in Callington, Cornwall. After a tricky rescue, Cornwall Fire and Rescue Service made it to the bottom of the mine to help bring the cat back to the surface.

It was given the all-clear by a vet, reunited with its sibling and was very happy to see its owner again.

A two-metre-long snake was helped to safety in September after it was found in a car park in Plymouth. The boa constrictor was rescued by volunteer Dawn Lapthorn and was taken to a specialist reptile centre.

Several foxes caused mayhem and had to be rescued this year, including a cub that got its head stuck between a fence post and a loose fence panel.

It was rescued by animal rescue officer Jade Guthrie in Teddington, south-west London, and released back into the wild unharmed in May.

Another cub was rescued by the charity a month later, after having discarded litter around its neck for three weeks.

And in Sutton, south London, an adult fox managed to wedge both its front and back end in a gate.