RSPCA inspector scales church roof to rescue cuddly toy

A brave RSPCA inspector scaled a church roof to rescue a stricken Great Dane – and came face-to-face with a 4ft cuddly toy.

Nigel Duguid, 59, was responding to a distressed phone call concerning a dog trapped on the roof of Elim Pentecostal Church in Port Talbot when he climbed a ladder to save the trapped animal.

But instead of being annoyed to find the stuffed toy, Mr Duguid said he was relieved.

He said: “I must admit it was such a relief. I had been preparing myself for what could have been an extremely distressing and difficult job, and then I realised that it wasn’t a dog at all!”

He added: “We get calls to animals of all shapes and sizes and species. But in my 37 years as an RSPCA inspector I have never been called to rescue a cuddly toy.”

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The charity says it receives one call every 27 seconds from concerned animal-lovers – and this isn’t the first time a call has turned out to be a false alarm.

Previous cases include a collapsed horse that turned out to be a pile of hay wrapped in twine, and a cat stuck under a wardrobe that turned out to be a pair of slippers.