New Delhi: In what was a multi-agency operation in the town of Bensheim–Auerbach, in Germany, a fat rat was finally rescued after it was stuck halfway out of a sewer manhole. The little fighter, who is said to have still been carrying holiday weight gained during winter, got trapped after it attempted to squeeze through a small gap in a sewer cover. The operation to rescue the rat went viral on the Internet after photos of the troubled victim were posted.
A team of about eight rescuers, including volunteers from the Auerbach volunteer fire brigade and the Rhein Neckar animal rescue team, were called to raise the cover and pull the rat free.
Pictures of the rodent reveal that it put up quite a struggle, but was unable to pull the bottom half of his body out of the narrow slot of the sewer cover on its own. German non-profit animal rescue group Berufstierrettung Rhein Neckar uploaded the images on Facebook.
Animal rescuer Michael Sehr, a member of Rhein Neckar, believes that even animals that were hated by many deserved respect, although many criticised the amount of time, energy and resources spent on saving the life of a sewer rat. The animal rescue group requested for firefighters once they could not change the rat's position.