Ever since the days of horse-drawn launches, the RNLI has been great friends with the animal kingdom. Lifeboat crews and lifeguards have saved dogs, cats, sheep, cows, horses, deer and dolphins.

Although the RNLI’s priority is to save human lives at sea, stranded animals can often cause a humanitarian risk. Many a dog owner has got into trouble in a bid to rescue their beloved pet.

One recent example involved two people who got stranded trying to reach their dog, which had chased a sheep down a cliff. All four were trapped but were brought to safety in a joint operation by Fishguard lifeboat crew and local coastguards.

Then there was Toby the Jack Russell, who was rescued by lifeboat crews after he was seen on a runaway speedboat. Two men had been thrown from the boat outside Hartlepool Marina and were trapped while it circled them with Toby still aboard. (See some video of this at tiny.cc/tobydog.) And, let’s face it; horses cut off by the tide in Holkham Bay or a bottle-nosed whale lost in the River Thames were at the very least a shipping hazard!

The charity’s lifesavers will inevitably come into contact with the occasional ship’s cat or stumble across a sick porpoise. Maybe, in some small way, they’re repaying a debt to those noble creatures that helped launch the lifeboats and save human lives in years gone by.