A woolly-thinking sheep found itself stranded in the middle of the River Roch after wandering out of a field and into the water for sheep thrills.
The animal, thought to be from a farm close to Fairfield General Hospital, Bury, was rescued by firefighters after being spotted by a number of people passing by who called the RSPCA just before 4pm.
It had got into baaaad trouble by wading into the water and found itself marooned in the middle of the river.
Group Manager Ben Levy, from Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Service, said: “We were called to the scene just as daylight was fading by inspectors from the RSPCA who were growing increasingly concerned about the animal.
“It was completely marooned just at the back of Fairfield Hospital and was becoming increasingly cold and wet.”
Specially trained firefighters based with water incident units in Eccles and Heywood attended the scene, supported by crew from Bury Fire Station and four people entered the water wearing dry suits.
They didn’t seem to give a lamb about getting wet, and simply wanted to rescue the sheep and have it returned to its owner.
Ben added: “The sheep was a considerable way away from the bank and we inflated some hose to protect the scene and then crew with animal handling training and water rescue skills went in.
“They brought it back to dry land and it was returned to the farmer by the RSPCA.”
Thankfully, the sheep was not thought to have any serious injuries from its escapade and didn’t need any sheePR.
Image courtesy of Jonathan, with thanks.
