Shooting of swans


Solo, the only survivor Solo being released


It was a quiet day in February when Sara answered a call telling us of several swans that were dead in a field on the moors. It all sounded very suspicious and so Sara went with a member of staff to the field.


They found three swans together, two had been shot through the head and the third, covered in blood, had rallied and escaped on to a nearby rhine. Realising that this was a wildlife crime situation Sara contacted the police and asked for more volunteers from Secret World to attend so that they could try and catch the swan that was still alive. While waiting for people to arrive, Sara had a look around and found a further 5 swans that had also been shot through the head. With additional help, the surviving swan was caught and all


14


the other bodies transported back to the centre. For the sake of evidence, the 7 dead swans were sent to our vets to be x-rayed to see if the bodies contained shot that could be identified and all bodies were kept.


The surviving swan was close to death with blood streaming from her nostrils so she was treated for shock and put under a heat lamp to try to reduce the stress. We hoped that at least the


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