Marton lamb rescued after days stuck up to neck in mud

The lamb was exhausted but healthy, the RSPCA said

A lamb has been rescued after spending several days trapped neck-deep in mud.

The RSPCA and Cleveland Fire Brigade used a raft to reach the stricken animal in Marton, Middlesbrough, after a dog walker raised the alarm.

RSPCA inspector Steph Baines said the animal would have drowned if left much longer.

The large lamb was "shattered" by its ordeal but, after being checked over by a vet, it was deemed well enough to be returned to its flock.

The RSCPA and firefighters responded after the alarm was raised by a dog walker

Ms Baines said the alarm was raised by a dog walker who saw the animal caught in a pond which, in the hot weather, had turned into a "thick quagmire", with it being believed the animal had been stuck for "several days".

She tried to reach it with a hook on a pole but the angle would have hurt the animal, Ms Baines said, so she called in firefighters.

Firefighters used a raft to reach the animal so they could pull it free

Ms Baines said they got to the animal "just in time" as she was having to hold its chin up with her pole to keep its head above the surface, adding: "He had sunk so far he was breathing bubbles in the mud."

She said the lamb was "exhausted and filthy" but there was "no doubt he was happy to be out".

The RSCPA said the inspector had now spoken to the farmer, whose land the pond was on, after another sheep was found in the mud and he had pledged to repair fencing.