A hapless dog was rescued by brave locals after it was found stuck in a barbed wire.

The two-year-old white female stray was searching for food near the river when it tried to enter a vacant patch of land in Trang province, Thailand on August 22.

As it tried to squeeze under the fence, its skin was caught on the wire while its legs were tangled with the dried grass.

The animal was believed to have been trapped for several hours due to its wounds before three locals passing by heard it crying and helped free the dog.

Resident Nopparat Chotikasemkul, 41, said: ‘I was walking to the river to catch fish with neighbours when we heard a dog whimpering.

‘We followed the sound and it led us to the hill near the river. The dog was caught on the fence and it looked like it was in pain.’

As the frightened dog tried to resist, the trio gathered long poles from fallen branches of trees so they could pin the animal down with it while one of them tried to remove the wire around its body.

The youngsters Surachet Leesuravanich, 17, and Thanarat Pinyothamanothai, 18, assisted the man as he carefully widened the gap on the fence and cut parts of it.

After almost 30 minutes, the wire was cut and the dog was freed. It was slightly injured from the sharp edges of the wire but it was able to return back to the village on its own.

Nopparat added: ‘We were relieved that we found the dog on time. It could have died from starvation if we did not pass by the area.’