Shock and disgust after hedgehog burnt in children's play area in Stratford
WARNING: THIS REPORT CONTAINS AN IMAGE SOME PEOPLE WILL FIND UPSETTING
THE burnt remains of a hedgehog were discovered in a children’s play area in Stratford after it is believed the animal was killed by cruel thugs.
The killing of the defenceless animal has left residents furious, with some saying it was an unspeakable act of cruelty towards an endangered species.
The dead hedgehog was discovered on Saturday morning in the play area at the end of Barrie Close and next to Wordsworth Avenue on the Trinity Mead estate.
One resident put out a fire at the site in the early hours but it was only discovered later that the remains included a dead animal.
Steve Shorter, who lives near the play area, said he was woken by a disturbance at 3.30am. When he left his house at 5am and checked the play area, he saw the smouldering embers of a fire, which he stamped out with his feet.
At this stage he had no knowledge that the remains of a hedgehog were also in the fire.
His movements woke two teenage males, who he estimates were about 16 and who were sleeping on a slide in the park.
“They wore face coverings,” Steve said. “One was like a ski mask and the other was like a bandana. I looked at them and they looked back at me, then they got on their bikes and rode off possibly towards town.
“They were casually dressed in grey or black jeans. Someone later found the remains of the hedgehog in the fire but I didn’t realise it was in there – if I had I’d have confronted them. The hedgehog was removed and put in a box in a neighbour’s garage and the RSPCA was called.
“Imagine if a young child had discovered the dead hedgehog – what a shock that would have been.”
Although he has no evidence that the teenagers were involved in the hedgehog’s death, he said nearby shrubbery appeared to have been disturbed. And CCTV images appear to show two youths chasing an animal around at approximately the same time Steve was woken up.
The animal’s remains were taken away by the RSPCA which said it has launched an investigation.
Steve said: “We wanted to escalate awareness about cruelty towards animals and I was very angry. It just goes to show whoever did this hasn’t got a care about anything else. I think they pulled it out of the hedge to set fire to it.”
He added: “I’d ask all residents to be extra vigilant to ensure that events like this do not occur again - toward any animal, not just hedgehogs.”
The death of the hedgehog provoked an angry response from Fay Vass, chief executive of The British Hedgehog Preservation Society, who said: “This is a cowardly and sickening act. The pain and fear the poor hedgehog must have gone through is heart-breaking.
“We urge anyone with information about the attack to report it immediately. Hedgehogs have been voted the UK’s favourite mammal, but numbers are in decline, a third have been lost from urban areas and up to 75 per cent from rural areas since the year 2,000, they were recently added to the UK Red list as a species vulnerable to extinction.”
She added: “There are such amazing efforts being made to bring them back from the brink, every one of them is precious. Hearing of this senseless, cruel death is completely devastating.”
A spokesperson for the RSPCA said: “We’re concerned to hear reports of such a shocking and upsetting incident and would like to hear from anyone who witnessed this or has evidence that can help our investigation.
“Anyone with any information about this incident should call the RSPCA on 0300 123 8018.”
Figures show that the RSPCA sees a spike in cruelty during the summer months. It receives around 90,000 calls to its cruelty line every month and investigates 6,000 reports of deliberate animal cruelty, including animal fighting and hunting. However, in the summer calls increase to 134,000 a month - three every minute – and reports of cruelty soar to 7,600 each month (245 every day).
In Warwickshire, there were 94 reports of intentional harm against animals made to the RSPCA last year.
