A FIREFIGHTER whose dedication to animal welfare has seen him transform the way large animals are rescued has received one of the RSPCA’s top honours.

Jim Green, 43, who leads the animal rescue team at Hampshire Fire and Rescue Service, was the recipient of the Richard Martin Gold Award - one of the RSPCA’s top medals.

RSPCA Superintendent Tim Minty accepted the award on behalf of the father-of-two who is currently in America, where he is teaching his animal rescue techniques.

Mr Minty said: “Jim Green is a firefighter who has been dedicated to improving the way large animals are rescued. He has been a driving force behind setting up the Chief Fire Officer Association (CFOA) Animal Rescue Practitioners Forum which brings together brigades throughout the UK.

“Through this forum Jim has worked with colleagues to create techniques that allow fire and rescue services to keep their officers safe whilst rescuing animals. He has also helped to create techniques that reduce the stress the animal goes through whilst being rescued.”

RSPCA officers are now trained in the techniques that have been developed for large animal rescues by Jim and many fire brigades now have specialist animal rescue teams modelled on Hampshire’s.

Jim, who works with three other colleagues in Hampshire to provide round the clock coverage, has trained delegations from Australia, New Zealand, Belgium, Turkey, Holland, Austria and Norway and has been called out to more than 3,500 incident in the past decade.

Jim said: “We set out on this journey to improve safety for humans and the welfare of animals. I am certain that the 10,000 or more annual animal related incidents attended by the British Fire and Rescue Service with assistance from our RSPCA and veterinary colleagues are being dealt with in a far more professional and welfare centred way due to the provision of training and standards of care now available across all sectors.”