A number of firefighters were needed to rescue a sheep that was stuck between rocks in Northern Ireland recently.
Firefighters from the Northern Ireland Fire and Rescue Service (NIFRS) responded to a report of the trapped sheep at Waterfall Road near Carnlough in Co. Antrim.
A fire crew from Carnlough station attended the incident on Tuesday, May 16, shortly before lunchtime.
The firefighters were able to rescue the animal with no major trouble; it was released from the rocks with no reported injuries.
Members of the NIFRS are no strangers to animal rescues. Earlier this year, firefighters in Co. Tyrone employed a number of unorthodox measures to rescue a lamb that was trapped underground.
In mid-February, a fire crew from Fintona station responded to an incident where a two-week-old lamb fell through a manhole cover and became trapped several meters down a narrow, horizontal pipe.
Firefighters attempted to coax the lamb back the pipe by bleating, a method that had limited success. The crew then enlisted the help of a local farmer and his sheepdog.
The trained sheepdog then entered the pipe, which was several feet underground, and retrieved the lamb; the lamb was then released back to its mother unharmed.
Dramatic rescue
In recent weeks, the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (RSPCA) in Wales has carried out a number of dramatic rescues where sheep had become trapped at the base of cliffs.
The most recent sheep rescue in Wales saw RSPCA personnel abseil 50m down a cliff face to rescue a sheep; the animal had been chased down the cliff, near Aberreiddy in Pembrokeshire, by a dog.
The rescuers captured footage of the rescue as they abseiled down the cliff face, caught the animal and then abseiled further down to safety.
