Pigeons are impressive flyers who are able to travel as far as 500 miles in a single day!

However, a single piece of discarded manja—dangerously sharp kite string that kills and injures countless birds and other animals across India—can painfully ground any bird.

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One unfortunate pigeon found her wings hopelessly entangled in such a kite string on a utility wire high above the ground. A kind person saw her dangling helplessly, struggling to free herself, and immediately called Animal Rahat’s emergency line for help.

Reaching the frightened pigeon was going to be a challenge—she was 30 feet above the ground!—but Animal Rahat’s team never says “never” when there’s an animal in deep trouble. They enlisted the help of a member of the local fire department, who climbed onto a nearby roof and used a long piece of bamboo fashioned with a hook on one end to release her from the wire.

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The team rushed the little bird back to the office, gingerly removed all the string from her legs and wings, and examined her carefully. Thankfully, there were no injuries, but she was certainly stunned by her ordeal—so they gave her some multivitamin drops, a painkiller, and water to help her recover, then kept her in the office overnight to rest.

By the next day, the pigeon had fully recovered and was ready to be released.

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