East Sussex Wildlife Rescue & Ambulance Service (WRAS) has had a very busy night which has ended up this morning seeing one of its Veterinary Ambulances rush to the aid of a badly injured gull inside a dustbin next to Eastbourne Skate Park at Hampden Park. Grounds staff at the park contacted WRAS after discovering the gull still alive in the bin. When WRAS's veterinary ambulance arrived 20 minutes later the bird had sadly passed away. Nearby two patches of feather could be seen, and it is thought that the injured Herring Gull was possibly attacked by a dog or fox and then dumped in the bin by someone passing by.
“There is no way the gull could have got into the bin of its own accord” said Trevor Weeks MBE the Duty Rescue Co-ordinator for WRAS, “the grounds staff told us that the bird was alive when they went to empty the bin and they could see the bird was badly injured and bleeding.”
On checking the bird over the gull was found to have several large wounds around its neck and body and could well of been attacked by a dog or fox. “Its not the fact that the bird was attacked that worries me, it’s the fact that someone put a seriously injured and suffering bird into a bin. I hope that they did so because they wanted to protect it and were going to call someone for help. Although the person who put the gull in the bin was not there when we arrived.”
WRAS is urging people to not leave injured wildlife and to seek help. “If you find a sick, injured or orphaned wild animal or bird please call a rescue organisation for advice. They are very busy at this time of year and if they can’t get to you quickly or you can’t get through and it is badly injured please take the casualty to your nearest emergency veterinary centre where they will provide emergency first aid and generally pass on casualties to rescue organisations such as WRAS. Trustworthy and reputable veterinary centres don’t charge members of the public when handing in injured wildlife” said Trevor.
“Once you pick up a casualty you are legally responsible for it, so dumping it in a bin and walking away would actually be an offence” added Trevor.
East Sussex WRAS is an award winning community charity funded by donations and Trevor dealt with this gull at 9am this morning after less than four hours sleep after being up for over 21 hours yesterday (Bank Holiday Monday 29th May) working for WRAS. Trevor was busy during the night treating a hedgehog from Denton cover in millions of maggots, rescuing a road casualty Tawny Owl from Turners Hill, rescuing and treating a Gull from Pevensey Bay with a large hook lodged in its mouth, a fox cub wandering disorientated in the road at Heathfield, a road casualty badger at Burwash, and a gull with a broken wing on Hastings Seafront. He also stopped to help guide a female fallow deer off the road in the middle of some bends at Dallington to help prevent an accident.
“Chris Riddington and I as the Duty Rescue Co-ordinators are working very long hours, frequently over 20 hours a day at the moment and our Casualty Centre is almost full. We have a bit of bed blocking going on but we are moving casualties through the system as quickly as possible and releasing casualties as soon as they are ready to be released so we can take in more casualties, so the situation changes on a day to day basis” said Trevor.
Anyone wanting to help support WRAS and its vital work should visit their website www.wildlifeambulance.org.
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