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The Scottish SPCA has worked tirelessly for over 100 years to protect animals across the country - but some discoveries can still stun them.

Founded in 1839 to improve the health of cart horses in Edinburgh, this week the charity celebrated 182 years of saving animals.

Over the last decade alone the charity has cared for 130,000 animals, including 36,333 dogs, 31,548 cats, 10,770 rabbits and 533 horses and donkeys.

SSPCA's Chief Superintendent Mike Flynn has dedicated 32-years to investigating the abuse of animals. "If it lives, breathes, walks, moves, flies in Scotland, we deal with it", Mike explains.

A seasoned inspector, he has seen it all, from dog fighting, to badger baiting and hoarders’ homes where pets are forced to live in horrid conditions, reports the Daily Record.

However, one case - which involves the shocking discovery of a five-foot crocodile- has, unsurprisingly, stuck in his mind over the years.

Crocodiles are listed as a dangerous wild animals in the UK and British owners must meet a number of requirements, including an enclosure with fresh water and dry land, in order to get a licence to own one.

In 2004, Mike went undercover to save a reptile that was being advertised online for sale and was being kept in the bath at a high-rise flat in Leith.

He said: “A chap was advertising it for sale and we arranged to meet him in a car park in Edinburgh.

"We turned up and had the police alerted and introduced ourselves. He opened the boot of the car and there was this loose five-and-a-half-foot crocodile. It’s classed as a dangerous wild animal.”

Mike and a colleague later flew to London, where they collected another crocodile and took the pair to a crocodile park in Torremolinos, in Spain.

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