An Alsatian dog fell into an abandoned basement where it remained for four days before someone heard its desperate whimpers and called for an animal ambulance.
In another case, a small dog, tied up in an abandoned shack, got its head jammed between two bricks and could not reach the stale food nearby before it was released by rescuers, animal welfare officer Godric Marston recalled.
The two dogs, and countless other animals, are alive today only because someone bothered calling for help.
As the calendar flipped to 2010, wounded cats and dogs will have a greater chance of being rescued as the animal ambulance service is extended to a 24-hour, daily service.
This means animal lovers who notice a limping dog, witness a cat being run over or a malnourished skeletal animal roaming the streets can call for assistance any time of the day.
People can contact the police headquarters on 2122 4001 and the call will then be referred to the Animal Welfare Departments' ambulance drivers who will go to the rescue in one of three ambulances.
A rescued animal will then be taken to a vet and eventually to a sanctuary where it will be homed. Animals will only be put down if there is no hope of a recovery.
In July, animal sanctuary Noah's Ark was contracted to run the animal ambulance pilot project for six months during which time over 2,000 animals were rescued, neutered and micro-chipped. The government forked out €15,000 to finance this six-month project. Now that the Noah's Ark contract is up, the service will be run by the Animal Welfare Department that increased the ambulance fleet from two to three vehicles.
Noah's Ark founder Fabio Ciappara welcomed the government's initiative to extend the "successful" service. "We still have 92 rescued dogs that still need to be homed... I hope the government helps us," he said.
The three ambulances will not operate all at once.
A team of eight people would work on a shift basis to ensure that the service was manned all the time so that each rescue could be seen to, Animal Welfare Department director Mario Spiteri said.
Once the animals are rescued by the ambulances they will be taken to one of several animal sanctuaries following an agreement reached between the department and a number of non-governmental organisations, including Noah's Ark. This would continue until the Ta' Qali animal after-care centre opened its doors later on this year, a spokesman for the Resources Ministry said.
It was difficult to quantify the cost of rescues because it all depended on how many calls were made and the state of the animal saved, the spokesman said. He added the ministry thanked Noah's Ark for its collaboration during the pilot project and encouraged people to adopt the animals from the sanctuaries.