It was a race against time to rescue a sheep stranded in deep mud.
Faversham’s animal rescue team along with Whitstable firefighters were alerted to the incident in Conyer Creek just out side of Faversham at 6.50am on Sunday morning.
When they arrived at the scene at the back of the North Quay the tide was coming in fast and the sheep was 10 meters out into the mud.
Using their specialist mud rescue equipment the Whistable crew inflated ladders to reach the animal which despite being unable to move was calm.
It took two and a half hours to make the rescue and dig the creature free and the farmer was said to be extremely grateful to be reunited with his livestock.
Faversham watch manager Peter Campbell said: “It wasn’t a difficult rescue but we had to be aware of the firefighters safety at all times.
“The tide was coming in fast but good teamwork made the rescue easier.
“The sheep would have drowned if we hadn’t been there as the water levels were rising quickly.
“It wasn’t necessarily an unusual operation as we tend to get three call outs to rescue large animals every fortnight.”