Stags freed

Two stags had to be freed after getting entangled in a length of dumped rope while they were rutting. The stags' antlers were caught up in the rope leaving them both trapped in headlocks. They were exhausted by their attempts to get free.

Five men had to hold the powerful animals down while they cut them free in Lawley, near Telford, Shropshire. The RSPCA warned the public about the dangers of dumping in the countryside saying the stags were lucky to survive.

A passer-by saw what animal welfare officers described as "a life-threatening predicament" and called for help.

An RSPCA inspector, the local deer warden and his underkeeper, a gamekeeper at a nearby castle and his beatkeeper took half-an-hour to free the Roe deer stags.

Inspector Nayman Dunderdale, from the RSPCA, said: "Stags are extremely strong animals that are known to fight. They were exhausted from trying to free themselves which they would never have managed on their own. It is lucky that someone spotted them and sought help, or they could have died. He said both stags ran off unharmed once they had been freed on Thursday.

"Every day RSPCA inspectors rescue pet and wild animals trapped or hurt by litter. Litter causes unnecessary suffering to so many animals and kills others. We urge people to always put their rubbish in a bin. On this occasion, a discarded piece of rope nearly resulted in the painful death of two beautiful stags."