Runaway emu sparks manhunt after vaulting fence in the middle of the night

A runaway emu sparked a five hour rescue mission involving the police and the RSPCA after it vaulted a fence and went on the run.

Rodney managed to make it a mile after he jumped a fence in the middle of the night and was eventually retrieved by his owner - who had to dash back from his first holiday since the pandemic to join the hunt for his pet.

The 11-month-old was eventually found and coaxed back to safety with the help of some treats.

Owner Jon Cardy, 54, and wife Laura, who keep an array of pets - many of which they use as therapy animals for people struggling with their mental health - took Rodney in when he was just two-weeks-old.

He grew up in the kitchen at their home in Chedburgh, Suffolk, before moving outdoors when he got older.

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The couple had gone to Northamptonshire on their first holiday since the pandemic when they received a call from their pet-sitter at 6.30am saying Rodney had gone missing in the night.

They drove back to look for him, with the help of the RSPCA, RSPB and even the police.

Eventually at 11.30am a message was sent on a community WhatsApp group asking if someone had lost their bird, which Cardy instantly recognised as Rodney and went to retrieve him - a mile away from home.

He said: "I put some of his favourite food down on the ground in front of me and he came to me without too much difficulty.

"He came over and he let me put my arms round his neck and cuddle him and stroke him and I managed to get him into the car to take him home.

"I think what happened was that there was a storm here on Wednesday night and he got spooked and must have hurdled over one of the fences.

"He was definitely here on Wednesday evening when our friend shut everything up and put all the animals to bed.

"But when she turned up early on Thursday morning he was not, so at some point in the night he went on an adventure."

He said Rodney had occasionally escaped before, but never quite so far, and had been found pretty quickly.

He has now temporarily sent him to a neighbours who has a female emu amid fears his own fences aren't high enough.

"Rodney is nearly a fully grown boy and they have a fully grown girl," he said. "They're both alone so we have set them up on an emu date and hope they get on well."

Cardy, a former consultant in anaesthesia and critical medicine, said he and his wife, a former NHS nurse, have pigs, dogs, geese, a two-legged cat, a tortoise and rabbits - many of which they use as therapy animals.

He added: "We tame as many of our animals to be pets of therapy or emotional support animals.

"Between us we have 39 years of experience healing broken bodies but in the past four years or so we’ve switched to healing broken minds.

“Rodney makes a great therapy animal. If you can get past being completely weirded out by a six-foot bird with a massive beak right in your face, he is very cuddly and likes strokes and is good for the soul."