The Weird and the Wonderful
The RSPCA has released its top ten wacky phone calls received over the last 12 months. In no particular order…
- A lady called the emergency phone line to find out which bus she needed to catch to visit Putney animal hospital.
- Someone called to report that a cat was stuck on a roof. However, it turned out to be a satellite dish.
- Someone asked a member of staff to speak to her husband as he was refusing to get out of bed and walk the dog.
- A very unhappy woman called to say that a cat had been abandoned in her garden. She called back later that day in a better mood to say that the cat turned out to be a surprise present from her husband.
- A lady called up one evening to ask if staff could open up one of the RSPCA branches as she had left her hearing aid there.
- A caller asked if she could borrow a cat from one of the RSPCA’s centres. She didn’t actually want a cat but she had a problem with mice in her house.
- A woman called to tell staff that there was something in her bathroom but that she was not sure if it was a hamster or a spider.
- An RSPCA inspector went out to an incident following reports that a cat had been found under a bush. However, the ‘cat’ turned out to be a jumper with a reindeer on it.
- Staff were asked to help solve a neighbourly dispute as someone wanted to stop nearby residents talking to the postman as it was causing her dog to bark.
- A displeased shopper called to find out how she could make sure she only bought milk from happy cows.
The cruelty and advice line operates in a similar way to the 999 emergency services number and non-urgent calls could prevent staff from dealing with a serious crisis.
The charity would like to remind people that it does have a non-urgent enquiries line, 0300 1234 555, and there’s also lots of information on www.rspca.org.uk
With Strangles Awareness Week just around the corner (5-11 May), vets are being encouraged to share a survey about the disease with their horse-owning clients.
