Actually, there is a lot of truth in that. Animals are far smarter than people give them credit for. A lowly Tortoise will actually go out it's way to turn a fellow Tortoise over, who's ended up on it's back.

I live on the Oregon coast, and I've helped a number of seabirds who've become tangled up in fishing line. At first they fight you and bite you, thinking that you might be a predator, but after they realize you are trying to help them, they cooperate with your efforts.