Charity bird of prey 'was brutally killed and died in agony'
Founder and trustee of the Wings of Freedom charity in Weston, Colin Sutherland, said the tame falcon, thought to be around 15-years-old, had likely died in agony, and bore the hallmarks of a carcass hung in a freezer before being discarded.
An emotional Mr Sutherland said the bird, named Audrey, had brought joy to the lives of countless children and elderly people during its lifetime, and did not deserve to die in such a brutal and cruel manner.
“We are devastated. It makes me very upset to even think about. It's very sad and to be honest it makes us think about reconsidering our future here. “She must have died in agony, her wings were broken. All this to a rescue bird of prey,” he said.
Two weeks ago the bird had flown off after Mr Sutherland had taken it to the Ridgeway for exercise.
It had made its way into a rapeseed field, and blinded by the colours, became distressed.
He returned each day to see the bird moving around after several days of no activity he lost hope and resigned himself to the fact the bird had probably starved.
On Sunday he made the grim discovery after arriving at the Teekay Farm bird of prey centre.
“It had been laid out. It was a baking hot day, there was not a single maggot on it, the eyes had sunk in, and it was cold, it had clearly been hung in a freezer all this time, there is no way it had been dead for that long outside,” he said.
“I want to catch the person that did this and have an example made of them.
“We have had to cancel events over at Great Shefford, there will be a lot of very disappointed children.
“We’ve done displays for MacMillan Cancer Care; children with Asperger’s; the terminally ill; people love the birds and the animals get a lot out of it too. It’s heartbreaking.”
Mr Sutherland has spent much of his adult life caring for birds, and began Wings of Freedom 30 years ago to give people with special needs and disability access to activities using birds of prey as therapy.
Last year the service, which had been run by volunteers, converted to a charity.
If anyone has information relating to the death of the bird, contact 07845 504167, contact police on the non-emergency number 101, or anonymously on 0800 555 111.