Runaway emu brought back home
Emus can grow to 1.9 metres in height, making them the second-tallest living bird.
Jon and Laura Cardy were on their first holiday in years when they received a call saying that their emu had escaped.
Despite being locked in by the pet-sitter the evening before, one-year-old Rodney had leapt over a fence during the night and made his getaway.
Quickly returning to their home in rural Suffolk, Mr and Mrs Cardy set about trying to track down the missing bird, reporting his disappearance to the RSPCA, the RSPB, and the police.
Mr Cardy told the BBC: ”He's a big running bird and can cover a lot of ground quite quickly, so we didn't know where he might be.
"I think he might have been spooked by the storm overnight, and while he's very friendly, he's also very large and inquisitive - and he has a very large beak.
"Rodney is fascinated by anything shiny like rings and earrings and I was worried that if someone saw him coming towards them at high speed they might be a bit freaked out."
After hours of searching, Mr Cardy was sent a video in a local WhatsApp group about a peacock which had been found about a mile from where they lived. It wasn’t a peacock, it was Rodney.
Helped by a friend, Jon located his emu and brought him back home.
Rodney has been part of the Cardy household since he was two weeks old. Mr Cardy added: "He grew up in our kitchen and he is like one of the family.”
The BSAVA has opened submissions for the BSAVA Clinical Research Abstracts 2026.
