September 2009: Heavy machinery was used to free a bull which fell down a well at Montford Bridge, near Shrewsbury. Pictures: Shropshire Fire and Rescue Service.

Firefighters in Shropshire spent more than 120 hours rescuing 263 animals from across the county during the past three years, figures reveal today.

Crews have rescued a variety of animals including a flock of sheep, cats, dogs, birds, horses and cows. Animals which are rescued less frequently include such varied species as bats, deer, donkeys, hamsters and swans.

However, the cost of the animal rescue operations is not available because fire service staff would have to examine all 263 rescues to work that figure out.

Today Helen Jones, information officer for Shropshire Fire and Rescue service, said: “We do not charge for attending these types of incidents, as attendance occurs where there is a humanitarian requirement, ie, a risk to life.

“We are unable to provide any estimate or calculation to the costs of these types of rescue as it varies with each incident.

“The cost is dependent on the number of firefighters, vehicles and equipment used. For us to calculate anything in more depth, we would have to took at each individual incident.”

The 263 animals were rescued during 183 incidents.

The time spent rescuing animals from April 2006/07 was 48 hours, in 2007/08 it was 38 hours and in 2008/09 it was 35 hours. Since April 1 this year, fire crews have spent almost 36 hours rescuing animals.

The most frequently rescued type of animal are sheep, although the figures are distorted because firefighters rescued a flock in 2007/08. The total number of sheep rescued during the past three years is 72.

Firefighters are most frequently called to rescue dogs. They have been called 51 times since April 2006 while the next most incident-prone animals are cows and cats. Firefighters were called 33 times to rescue cattle and a further 31 times to help felines.

Firefighters were called 23 times to rescue horses and 18 times to help stricken birds.

The animals rescued least often are bats, donkeys and hamsters, each of which have been rescued just once during the past three years.

Deer have been rescued twice, swans have been rescued five times and there have been a number of rescues where the type of animal was not recorded.

Special report by Andy Richardson