Episode 5 Animal SOS

Good afternoon, RSPCA control centre.

What animal is your call regarding today?

In the UK, someone calls the RSPCA every 30 seconds...

Exactly what did you see?

They're left outside in all weathers and they've got no bedding or shelter from the rain.

..24 hours a day, 365 days a year.

I don't want you to go too close to it because swans can be very, very dangerous.

When an animal needs help, the emergency line is open.

Do you know something, I've had non-stop calls for the past hour.

All right take care, bye-bye. I've got a bit of a rough throat now.

It's cos I don't shut up.

Filming as the calls come in...

And when inspectors respond on the ground...

I'll pass this information through to the officer.

So close.

Rescuing everything from injured wildlife...

..to neglected pets.

Every shift is a challenge.

Rhea 1, RSPCA 0.

There's no such thing as a typical day as an RSPCA inspector.

Getoh...my lord!

We never know what we're going to deal with.

No two days are the same.

You're keeping a dog out there, it's disgusting.

Whoa there!

It's gets to where you feel like you're banging your head against a brick wall.

It's dirty, sweaty

It stuns me sometimes, the smells that I come across.

Sorry.

There's not a lot a lot of glamour in my role.

Even if you've just helped one animal...

Hi, mate.

..it's worth it.

Today, rescuing a small kitten turns into a big job

for inspector Justin Stubbs.

A call to a deer in distress.

-And old Ben...

-There, there.

..the dirty dog in need of some serious TLC.

With under 300 of them to cover the whole of England and Wales,

RSPCA inspectors will always have a long list of jobs to deal with.

And, invariably, it's the calls that sound the quickest,

that take the longest.

Cambridgeshire inspector Justin Stubbs takes the call

and what sounds like a pretty straightforward mission,

to rescue Loopy, the kitten.

He can get a bit of food and water to the cat,

so there's been no mad urgency.

But because we're not entirely sure if the people have gone on holiday or not,

obviously I can't leave the cat in there indefinitely,

it's not right, it's not fair,

so hopefully we'll meet the housing association carpenter or locksmith

who hopefully can just let us in, and reunite the cat with the owner.

It seems a really, really simple problem,

just opening a garage door for six inches,

for five seconds to let the cat out.

Hopefully, that's all it's going to be.

The first thing I do when I get there is make sure the cat is in there.

Make sure it's still alive, which it obviously was.

Hello!

Oh, we're coming.

It's sort of playing high-five with my fingers really,

she's padding on to them.

Hello, mate.

Come on.

It's just desperate for a bit of attention, really.

But, with the locksmith on his way, all Justin can do is wait.

And give the kitten's owner, Kevin, an update.

Right, yeah, they're on their way. Right, OK.

Erm, as soon as they're here, lift it up for five seconds,

-close it again - easiest job in the world we hope.

-Yeah.

It'll be over soon.

Obviously I'm sat there waiting, I've got a list of jobs

quietly building, so I was expecting it to be a nice, quick

turnaround on the job really. I thought maybe a good hour,

from the time I've made my call to getting the cat sorted and driving off.

But there's no sign of help,

so the neighbours pull together to entertain Loopy.

And they try to keep Justin's spirits up, too.

Oh, you've got the cat out!

Excellent. That's not quite the cat I was expecting.

Luckily Justin is pretty good at entertaining himself.

66 bottles of beer on the wall,

66 bottles of beer.

If one of those bottles should happen to fall,

65 bottles of beer on the wall.

I got there about four o'clock in the afternoon, when we first started.

Good hour and a half later on, somebody turned up.

So there's a cat trapped in a garage?

Yeah, just the little one here.

-All I'm after, literally, is if we just open the door.

-Yeah.

-Ten seconds, let the cat out, give it to this gentleman who owns it and then...

-Right.

Slam them back, that would be great, please.

But opening the garage door is more difficult than Justin hoped.

Is this the only door into the garage building?

There's one round there, but that's padlocked.

That would probably be easier, mate,

because I'm thinking about repairing the door as well.

It's apparently just a simple matter of breaking off the padlock

on the side door of the garage.

So Loopy should be seeing daylight again soon.

He'll probably catch the cat while he's in there and just hand it out to us.

If not, looking at how he's been wanting to play with us,

I should think he'll just walk out

and start rubbing himself round our legs.

So...

..it'll be over and done with very quickly.

But letting the cat out of the garage is proving tricky.

You thought it was going to be such a quick, easy job, didn't you?

The guy has come and said that the door is bolted and screwed on

with some of the strongest screws and bolts known to man.

So he's going to have to go off and get an angle grinder,

and saw the whole thing off.

It's a ridiculously big job for what should be really, really simple

but, erm, needs must.

So after several hours on the job, once again all Justin,

the neighbours and, of course, Loopy can do...

..is wait.

It's definitely a case that the jobs that sound really, hard you can get done within moments,

the jobs that you think are going to be quick, the jobs that should be quick,

this should have been a quick job, turn into nightmares that can take hours.

This was certainly one of those.

The sun was high. It's now not.

To be fair to the lad, he went over, he got this equipment,

and he was back within another hour or so.

Came out of his van with a massive angle grinder,

hopped over the gate, again, and set to work.

It was quite spectacular to watch and listen to.

Poor Loopy must be wondering what on earth is going on.

She ends up cowering in the corner of the garage,

so Justin is called into action.

I went into the garage, the kitten was alive and well

and really quite calm in the corner.

One cat, coming out.

This is the right one, isn't it? Yeah.

The cat was right as rain,

and the owner and his family were over the moon.

She was pretty nervous.

There's a lot of cat mess in there.

A lot of cat mess, she's been in there a good while.

But, picture of health...

..not dehydrated, nice, young, healthy fat cat

going home to daddy, really.

So all yours.

Might just be a little bit jumpy.

The cat was very much a family animal.

All of the kids absolutely love the cat.

We managed to get it into the house, give it a quick check over.

Hello...

Stop going in people's garages.

It's always good to round off a long job with a happy family at

the end of it and, you know, there's a lot of happy people in that house.

Got to shoot. Thank you very much. All right, cheers, thank you!

At the RSPCA national control centre,

the team quickly notice trends in animal welfare.

Over the last few years, they've seen a dramatic rise

in the number of horses being abandoned.

So they've brought their horse onto your field?

And people leaving them on private land without permission has become widespread.

What's the situation with the pony?

It's a problem when it's just one horse.

But, on this farm in South Wales,

a staggering 200 horses have been dumped.

Today, this 50-strong team has gathered to rescue them.

Anything that looks underweight, overgrown hooves, let's prioritise those ones.

The team heads off to the fields to see the scale of the task ahead

and it's a daunting sight.

I knew what I was going to deal with,

but when you get there and you stand in the middle of the fields,

and you turn 360 degrees,

and everywhere you look, there's a horse.

The scale of it was enormous.

The horses have been left by their owner for several months,

without any care to their basic needs.

Hello, sweetheart.

These horses were going rapidly downhill.

Winter was coming on, they're very cold, very little shelter,

and, basically, not enough food.

And to make matters worse, many are showing signs of serious illness.

This one here is just covered in liquid excrement, basically.

There's just lumps of faeces in its tail.

What will happen now, its legs will get burnt

and it'll get sores, so that'll rapidly go downhill without

some veterinary treatment and antibiotic course.

It's feared the horses have salmonella which not only

affects humans but can be devastating in any group of animals.

It's quite contagious, so they were passing the salmonella amongst them.

It's life-threatening to the horses, especially young, vulnerable or unfit horses.

With so many animals at risk, the team needs to act.

Rounding up this many untrained horses could be fraught with danger.

Because these horses hadn't been well handled, you know,

obviously it's quite a dangerous situation.

They're going to become stressed, at contact with humans,

a lot them with foals at foot are going to be very defensive about their foals.

So the rescue needs to be run like a military operation.

Just everyone from the top and then scoop round...

Equine vet Nick Debrewer takes charge

and first gets the team building an enclosure.

We'll try and drift them into an area where we can control their movement.

If we can get the group in there, then they're more under our control.

Any one that's suffering, we can then take away.

The size of the team now comes into its own,

as they fan out and begin to corral the horses.

You've only got one chance to get them into the pens.

You can't chase them, you can't flap,

you can't shout or scream, you literally want them

to just gently walk them, so you need to form a barrier

of people who just quietly push them up towards the penning area.

The neglected horses are so hungry though, food lures them in.

That was clockwork, really. I mean it probably looked really easy

and maybe you're thinking it's overkill having that many people

but if we hadn't, they could have doubled backed

and, you know, run off. No, it was done very calmly and quietly.

No stress to the horses. Very, very good.

But now, the hard work really begins.

The horses all need to be assessed.

The healthiest are turned back into a field...for now.

And those in need of urgent care, are taken to the barn to be treated.

But as more and more are filtered through,

these skittish horses are starting to throw their weight around.

Whoa, whoa, whoa!

Very few of them had been caught or handled before,

they'd not had a head collar on, they'd not been touched,

not had their feet picked up, not been examined by a vet.

You know, we're the enemy to them, they don't want any contact with us.

And they are the closest you will see to, sort of, a feral horse.

That was close.

I came very close to landing on my backside.

I didn't want to spend the rest of the day caked in horse diarrhoea.

I did want to preserve my dignity.

Once on a firm footing, the team gives each horse a thorough examination.

Body - one and a half...

You're starting from scratch, you've got to get their teeth done,

you've got to get their feet done,

check they've been wormed, routine vaccinations and things like that.

We've got a few, a few visitors, have we?

Oooh, yeah.

A lot of them had lice but we refer to them as visitors

and I think we walked away with a few visitors, as well.

What do we make of this charge?

As each horse is examined, the picture of neglect is emerging.

You don't look too happy, do you?

Until you actually get your hands on these horses and you can feel their

bony processes, you don't realise how underweight some of them were.

And for some of the horses, it's clear the rescue came just in time.

You can hear this little foal is coughing away down here,

he's probably got a touch of pneumonia, or something wrong.

He's gone onto immediate medication, you can see his breathing's bad.

I think it's really important, it shows why we needed to be here today.

I'll walk away tonight knowing that if we hadn't taken this foal,

it would probably have died in the next couple of days,

so that'll make me sleep better tonight.

After a gruelling ten-hour day,

the team has identified over 60 poorly horses...

Pale, dry gums.

..and saved the lives of many of them.

It's now time to transport them to the stables,

where they'll be properly cared for

and get the ongoing treatment they need.

For Cathy and the team, it's been a successful day all round.

It's what I joined the job to do, really.

The most satisfying thing is to see them go on

and lead useful lives, in homes where they're going to have all the

care and attention that they should have and deserve to have.

When inspectors are called out to rescue a wild animal,

they know they're likely to have a tough time ahead.

But in Essex, Matt Gough is off to one of the hardest calls of all.

The girl who's called in, she's saying its front leg is potentially broken,

but a deer that's got a damaged front leg can still often be quite

mobile because all the strength, all the power is in the back legs.

So it could, potentially, make it very, very difficult to catch,

because they can still jump, they can still run quite well,

so it could be quite a difficult job, to be honest.

On arrival, Matt can see the deer in question.

It's a Muntjac, the smallest type of deer living in the UK.

So how active is he?

You can see...

Yeah, so he's holding that up.

I could see straightaway that one of its front legs was broken.

I have to figure out a way of catching her.

Although the deer moves off, Matt knows that he's unlikely to be able to save it.

If a deer has a broken leg, the likelihood is it will, unfortunately, have to be put to sleep.

If you take that wild animal into captivity where it's already stressed,

what you'll often find is that the deer dies in captivity anyway,

because of the stress of what's happened.

I'm just going to block this exit up with these baskets.

I don't want her coming out onto the road.

But, because she's very active, so I'm not going to be able to just

jump on her and grab her.

But while Matt covers one exit, the deer finds another.

When you're trying to catch a wild animal it will, inevitably, run

to the last place you want it to go.

And, on this occasion, that place is a cluttered traffic management store yard.

Where did she go?

There were just hundreds of signs, cones, roadwork equipment...

Matt's difficult job has just got a lot more complicated.

The last thing I want to do is to let her go out onto the road.

So if we just lean these road signs up against this gate here.

That's the one with the biggest gap under it, it'll stop her getting out.

I used some of the roadwork equipment to make up a small plastic barrier.

If she looked out of the little corner she was hidden in,

she wouldn't see the people looking at her.

She would still be able to jump over that, if she gets a move on,

but, at least, if she's in the corner somewhere dark, somewhere safe

and the less she can see going on up here, the better.

When we do go in there to try and catch her,

it'll at least keep her confined a bit. It's something to help us.

We're doing the best we can with what we've got around us, basically.

It's just a case of leaving her somewhere she felt secure,

and she felt calm until help arrived.

Matt calls on colleague Rosie Russon.

Armed with a net, they form a plan to catch the deer.

The deer had tucked herself down a tunnel of metal frames

that would normally hold road signs.

She'd tucked herself right at the end of this tunnel.

With one end of the net, one of us walks directly towards that corner

and then we'll see if we can make some noise and flush it out.

-If there's a small hole, he's going to find it.

-He'll go straight through it, yeah.

The net's in place but, even with a badly broken front leg,

the deer finds an escape route.

Matt and Rosie try not to frighten the deer...

I don't mind her going back down there, that's fine.

..but it quickly retreats back to its hiding place.

Where has it gone?

The frames were brown with rust, the floor was brown with dirt,

and she's a brown deer.

I can't see it at the moment.

Time for plan B.

Rosie was there with the net, I was there to flush her out,

and we thought we'd managed to cover all the exit routes.

Muntjac are quite a vocal deer.

DEER SCREAMS LOUDLY

When they're in distress, they will start to scream.

DEER CONTINUES SCREAMING

When people hear it they often think you're hurting the animal.

You're not, it's just how they react to that stressful situation.

But, just as they think they've caught it...

The deer escapes from under the net.

Oh! OK.

When you look at her, it's actually her front right leg,

it's completely sheared. There's no coming back for that animal.

It looks like she's probably had the injury for a while.

But the best thing you can do is put her out of her misery

as quickly as possible.

It's a difficult situation because the animal is injured

and if you leave it there, it will suffer,

and eventually it will die a slow and quite long death.

So you've got to catch it and you've got to do it as quickly as possible.

Finally, Matt manages to get hold of the deer.

Are you ready?

He ends its life as painlessly as possible.

It's a difficult, but necessary step.

The overwhelming feeling after the event is definitely one of relief.

Oh!

I suppose you're just so glad the animal is then out of its suffering.

It's not something you'd want to do every day.

Luckily, it doesn't happen that often.

But you get used to it.

You soon realise that it's the best thing for that animal.

It's the only way of relieving that animal's suffering humanely.

Putting an animal to sleep is a tough,

but often unavoidable part of an inspector's job.

But sometimes, even the most hopeless-sounding situations

can have a happy ending.

In Derby, Chris Shaw is on his way to an emergency call about a dog

living in poor conditions and requiring urgent medical care.

The initial call came in saying the dog's back had actually been broken

and that it was in extreme pain.

So obviously, when we get a call like that,

we want to get there as quickly as possible

to try and, you know, to try and sort it out.

This job doesn't sound too great from the start.

With what they're saying about the dog,

I'm expecting it to be quite an elderly dog.

They are also saying that the dog does need putting to sleep,

but they can't afford to get it to the vets or pay the vets.

So I'm hoping that it's just going to be a case of getting there,

getting the dog signed over and taking it to a vets.

Janet, the lady who made the call, and lives at the house,

is waiting for Chris on the doorstep.

-So you've got the dog in... Is the owner here?

-No.

The elderly dog is her ex-partner's.

We went through the hallway into the lounge, where the dog had been kept

and instantly, I could smell

that there was something going off in that house.

It didn't smell good at all.

The smell was really strong.

You know, it was really, really overpowering.

There was faeces all over the floor,

the carpet was soaking wet through.

And in the middle of it all, a little dog called Ben.

He was an old dog, he was extremely dirty, he had really overgrown claws.

And has he ever been to a vets? Has the owner ever took him?

-In the last three and a half years, no.

-Right.

The dog's owner recently moved out and left Ben behind,

so it's now down to Janet.

Would you be willing to sign the dog over to the RSPCA? Yeah?

If I get you to sign him over, then I'll take him to the vets

-and let a vet look at him, all right?

-Yeah.

That poor dog had just been kept in that room

and, due to just complete and utter boredom,

was just circling through desperation.

I mean, the room was dark, it was smelly, it was dirty.

That dog had probably been living in pure hell.

Come on. Sorry.

In you go. That's it.

I know it's a difficult time for you, though, but...

By this time next week, I know this room's going to be done.

The woman had another dog and she had a cat.

So I knew when I took Ben away

there were still animals living in there.

I was definitely going to go back there

and make sure that those animals were all right.

So if I come back and see you in a week, this will be sorted, will it?

-And you can give me your word on that?

-Yeah.

Because, I mean, it's quite strong in here, you know,

I'm sure you realise that.

When I finally got Ben out of there...

All right, if we pop him down slowly here.

..the lady was, you know, quite emotional.

And I explained that I'd be taking Ben to a vet,

getting a vet's opinion on him, and, you know,

I would do my best I could for Ben.

If we lift him up now, then.

-Are you all right, or do you want a minute?

-I'm all right.

An RSPCA inspector is almost like a policeman, a social worker,

a vet, all rolled into one.

We have to have so many different traits

to be able to do this job effectively.

Aw! Well, listen, I'll get him off to the vets, then, now, all right.

-We'll get the vets to look at him.

-Yeah.

Chris heads straight to the vets with Ben.

But the other animals living at the house are still on his mind.

The dog seemed in reasonable body condition, the kitten, as well.

When she let it in that other room, it was eating dog food,

which is always a bit of a concern to me.

I think when I go back in a week, if she hasn't done anything,

I will be looking at getting that dog and cat out of there, really.

-Yep.

-Yep.

Once Chris gets to the vet, Ben is given a thorough examination

and his condition isn't as bad as Chris feared.

It was kind of quite good news.

He confirmed that he hadn't broken his back.

He said that this was an old dog,

he was extremely dirty and he had problems with his claws.

That's a long claw.

Long claws and the faeces stuck.

It's all right. Good boy. It's all right.

He's not in a bad shape for 16, 17, 18.

He needs the whole grooming, nail-clipping.

And that's about it, I think.

And first up, it's a hot bath.

I knew straightaway, you know, when that animal has the bath,

he's going to be feeling a million times better.

And Ben gets the full spa treatment.

Hello, there, Benny! Are you being a good boy?

It's all very strange, isn't it?

Steady. I know.

He's been taken from that stench of a house, stinking of ammonia,

to a clean, warm, dry environment

where he's going to get attention.

That must have made that dog so happy.

At the end of day, that's what makes me really happy.

But there's still unfinished business for Chris to deal with

back at Ben's old home.

After about a week, I decided to go back to check on the lady

to see if she had managed to do anything.

She didn't know I was coming, so it was a complete surprise to her.

Instantly, I could see out of the front of her garden

was just piles of rubbish, sofas,

all kinds of household waste, really.

KNOCK AT DOOR

-Hiya, there. Are you all right?

-Yeah.

-Oh, good, good.

-I've just come back to see how you're getting on.

-Oh, well...

-Yeah, I can see you've had a good cleanout.

-Yes.

She took me through to the lounge, the worst room that was there,

and it was amazing.

Wow! It smells so much better in here.

You've done the best thing you can do, just by stripping it all.

And Janet's animals are looking happier, too. It's a great result.

Hey! How are you doing?

When I do go back and they've listened to that advice

and they've actually done something, you know,

that's a really, really, good feeling.

I mean, it makes me feel good, it makes the animals feel good.

I was chuffed that she'd listened to me and sorted it all out, really.

You stay there, then. All right. I'll see you later.

-Thank you.

-Cheers.

-See ya!