Fire services in England dealt with a record number of call-outs in 2025/26 where pets had to be rescued or helped, figures show.

Crews attended 3,640 incidents in the year to March where domestic animals needed assistance, up 8% from 3,366 in the previous 12 months.

The total includes 1,245 occasions when pets were rescued from heights, such as roofs or trees, and 1,590 where they had to be freed after getting trapped.

A further 208 incidents involved rescuing a pet from water or mud, while 207 were from areas classed as “below ground”.

The total of 3,640 incidents of domestic animal assistance in the year to March 2026 is the highest since comparable data began in 2009/10.

The figures have been published by the Ministry of Housing, Communities & Local Government as part of annual statistics on non-fire incidents attended by fire and rescue services in England.

Among the other incidents listed for 2025/26 are:

– 13,760 where crews were called to release a malfunctioning lift, of which 1,909 involved someone in distress;

– 7,167 removals of objects from people, including 4,960 involving rings;

– 205 rescues of people stuck in mud;

– and 22 evacuations connected with unexploded bombs, none of which were terrorist-related.

Overall, fire and rescue services in England dealt with 215,583 non-fire incidents in the 12 months to March, the highest for any financial year since data began, and up 41% on 153,006 a decade ago.

Crews attended 10,841 non-fire false alarms in 2025/26, 97% of which were classed as “good intent”, where the caller genuinely believed there to be an incident.