RSPCA nuisance calls: Charity reveals most ridiculous callers this year

A woman who mistook an onion for a dead rat was one of the most recent bizarre callers who phoned the RSPCA with a pointless ‘urgent’ message this year.

The animal protection charity has released a list of the five most ridiculous calls it has received so far in 2014.

The female caller in question was convinced they had a rat in their kitchen, which they thought was unwell as it hadn’t moved in some time.

But when an RSPCA inspector arrived at her home they found it was infact an onion which had rolled out of her shopping basket.

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Elsewhere, a caller phoned the RSPCA to report they had seen a monkey in a rabbit suit and wanted them to investigate.

Another female caller rang the charity to report her concerns for a cat stuck on a roof - which later turned out to be just a satellite dish.

One of the oddest calls saw someone ring the RSPCA and ask that a member of the charity attend their birthday party.

Their fifth weird example involved a pet owner who had overheard someone refer to their cross-breed dog as a ‘mongrel’ - which left them feeling insulted.

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RSPCA chief inspector Dermot Murphy said: ‘Like many charities we are facing a big rise in calls at a time when our resources are under most strain.’

The RSPCA has just 500 frontline officers to deal with the entire of England and Wales – and on average receives a call every four seconds.