Police in Sussex have released a list of unusual 999 calls that they have received, including one from a woman who was distressed after losing her slippers.
Other issues that the force received calls about included smelly drains, an unsatisfactory hotel room and a gerbil that had gone into labour, according to Sky News.
A statement from the force said: "Every day, our communications staff can answer up to 1,000 emergency calls from the public: if you dial 999, we'll do everything we can to speak to you within ten seconds but sometimes our operators are faced with calls which don't quite come under the category of 'emergency'.
"Just bear in mind that if your gerbil has gone into labour, you're not sure where your slippers have gone, your drains smell or you don't like your hotel room, you might want to try another route before calling the emergency services."
A spokeswoman added that some of the calls came from vulnerable people.