Police on patrol in Pukekohe made a particularly special rescue earlier this week.
Constables Sophie Gannon and Muhamad Ismail were on patrol around The Zone Shopping Centre this week when they were alerted to a feathery situation.
A mother duck and 13 baby ducklings were trapped in a drain and a mission was underway to retrieve them.
The mother was scooped out but flew away before she could be reunited with her brood.
"I don't know who the people were who rescued them but they looked like drain maintenance people," said Constable Gannon.
"We sat in the car and waited to see if the mother would come back. We thought all the people being there might have scared her away, but she didn't come back after everyone dispersed."
Rather than leaving the ducklings alone in the cold, the constables returned to the Pukekohe Police Station on the advice of the SPCA.
"I think the whole station was pretty excited about having a box of ducklings," Gannon said.
The ducklings were safely transferred to a bird rescue centre.