The RSPCA have noticed a growing problem of animals getting stuck in fly-tipped rubbish which is dumped in public… and they have released the photos to prove it.

For example, this cow somehow managed to get its head stuck in the drum of a washing machine which had been dumped in a field in Cornwall.

RSPCA say the heifer was probably curious and looking for food when it got stuck - luckily officers were able to free the cow without injury.

There was no comment on whether the cow came away with a cleaner face... but whoever dumped the washer was clearly a stupid moo.

Chihuahuas are being airlifted out of California after celebrities like Paris Hilton caused an overpopulation of the tiny dogs.

Animal shelters in California say many people wanted to emulate Chihuahua-toting celebs but have become bored of their pets, causing an overpopulation.

But while west coast kennels are overflowing with the dogs demand is said to be outstripping supply in places like New York.

As a result dozens of the unwanted Chihuahuas are being shipped out by San Francisco Animal Care and Control so they can be adopted into loving new homes.

Yesterday some made the journey in a style befitting the celebs which inspired their former owners, flying with Virgin America… though they hardly needed the extra leg room.

Staff at London Zoo have started their annual stock take, where they have to count every animal individually... last year their were 15,107.

While bosses at the zoo say they have a good idea of what animals they have, they claim the stock take is the only way to know exactly what is where.

As a result staff have the unenviable job of counting and logging them all, but with over 5,000 fish it is harder than it sounds.

There are more than 750 different species at the zoo including gorillas, squirrel monkeys and tigers -- as well as many smaller (and harder to count) critters.

Hopefully not too many of the animals are currently buried under the snow.

Australian lifeguards will soon get text messages when Great White sharks swim near the beaches they are patrolling.

Researchers are electronically tagging the man-eating predators with GPS units which will constantly monitor their movements.

If the sharks then get too near to a beach a satellite receiver will automatically send out emails and text messages to wildlife officials and lifeguards.

Currently 74 white sharks have been tagged and there are 20 communications-equipped monitoring stations have been installed off the Perth coast.

Bosses say they hope the network will "provide timely alerts of tagged sharks' presence close to beaches" -- obviously this is unless the lifeguard is busy playing a game on his phone at the time.

Ben Southall - the winner of a competition for the best job in the world - has been stung by a deadly jellyfish.

The 34-year-old Brit was just days away from the end of his six month stint at "caretaker" of Hamilton Island in Queensland when he was stung by a deadly Irukandji jellyfish.

Though tiny (they measure just 2cm) the Irukandji are extremely venomous and stings can often result in people being hospitalised, and are sometimes fatal.

Ben had been on a 'hard-earned break' from his £75,000, six-month job when he was stung while jetsking.

Given that his normal duties include scuba-diving to check on marine life and writing a blog about his experiences we are finding it a bit hard to feel sorry for him.

A woman called 999 to tell police that her cat was playing with string and it was annoying her.

The odd call was revealed by Greater Manchester Police (GMP) to highlight the problem of nuisance 999 calls, particularly over the holiday period.

The woman called 999 over Christmas to report that her cat was playing with string and it was 'doing her head in.'

It is not known exactly how police responded, but we can guess.

Another caller over the Christmas period phoned police to say he was stuck on a patch of ice in a street in Bolton and was too scared to go forwards or backwards.

Visitors to a South African safari have started using military-style night vision goggles to watch animals into the night.

Bosses at Londolozi Game Lodge in South Africa are issuing tourists the equipment - normally associates with combat - to get a better look at the animals.

They say it not only allows guests to stay out longer, but also get closer to the lions, hippopotamus and buffalo than ever before.

A spokesperson for Londolozi said: "Imagine sitting in the dark with a pride of lion hunting. The lights are off but you are seeing and hearing just like the lions."

We tried imagining it... then we had to imagine changing our trousers

Russian authorities have revealed plans which could see them send monkeys to Mars.

After putting mon­­­keys into orbit in 1983 the Soviets moved on to human astronauts - but now the apes could be making a return.

While space experts say while the aim is to get humans on Mars, the length of the flight and effects of cosmic rays is said to make it impossible to plan for at the moment.

As a result the Institute of Experimental Pathology and Therapy - which supplied apes for the programme in the 1980s - has revealed plans for a monkey Mars mission.

It is likely to start with a ground-based simulation capsule mission for 520 days… and about 1,500 bananas.

Aquarium bosses have been forced to lower the level of water in their tanks... because of flatulent turtles

Bosses at Sea Life Yarmouth have been forced to drain off of water from a 250,000 litre tank after giving their turtles a seasonal treat of brussel sprouts.

The turtles are said to love the taste of the vegetables - which thanks to calcium, fibre and Vitamin C are good for their shells and digestions.

But, like with humans, this has apparently caused the same embarrassing side-effect, but with an added problem, the bubbling water can trigger overflow alarms.

This means that staff would be running to the tanks every time one of the green turtles farted - not what they want to be doing on Christmas day.

A member of public has called an emergency RSPCA helpline to get help for a seagull which was looking sad because it was sitting in the rain.

The daft caller expected officers to track down the gull and cheer it up - or at least find out why is was upset.

The details of the odd call have been revealed as one of the top 10 funny calls made to the charities emergency phone line over the past 12 months.

More than one million calls were made to the RSPCA line - that's one every 29 seconds - for advice on animal welfare or to report an incident of cruelty.
 
While the majority of the calls are of a serious nature, occasionally they range from the weird and wonderful to the downright wacky - check out the top 10 after the link.