Swan shot in Newbury
Bird underwent surgery to have pellet removed
A SWAN was shot by an airgun in West Mills, Newbury, leaving it unable to eat and requiring surgery.
The bird was found on the River Kennet by Emma Bateman on Saturday evening, and was then taken to Swan Support in Datchet where it underwent an operation to remove the pellet.
It will now remain at the centre for a few weeks to recover before it is returned to the river.
Mrs Bateman, who regularly feeds the swans on the river, said she hoped by speaking out that any witnesses would come forward.
She said: “It’s a terrible thing – who would shoot a swan?
“I regularly feed the swans, and these ones in particular I feed twice a day.
“It came to me for its regular feed and I noticed dried blood on its neck.
“I was throwing it food and it couldn’t eat – it was struggling to pick the food up.
“Then I noticed on one side of its face it was really swollen, and when I looked closer there was a black pellet.
“People are quite alert and vigilant about what other people are doing at the moment, so I wanted to see if anyone noticed anyone basically with a gun.”
Mrs Bateman, who believes the cruel act took place between 11am and 7pm on Saturday, between the bird’s feeds, called Swan Support, which came to collect the swan.
The swan then underwent an x-ray to assess the damage, before surgery to remove the pellet.
Swan Support operations director Wendy Hermon said that Thames Valley Police had been notified and that the swan would make a full recovery.
She said: “It’s okay at the moment and recovering as well as expected.
“It wasn’t too good when it was picked up because it wasn’t able to eat very well.
“We think it was done within the last week – it’s not an old injury.
“It was in a lot of shock when it was picked up, but we’re hoping it will make a full recovery and can probably be returned to the wild by the end of the month.”
Mrs Hermon added: “It’s disgusting isn’t it, on lockdown, that someone is going out and doing this sort of thing.
“It’s unbelievable really – and it’s good that the public alerted us to this sort of thing that’s going on.”
