|
Burnham
Hovercraft Home Page > Burnham Hovercraft
News Archive
December
3, 2006
Second
call-out of the week for Burnham-On-Sea inshore lifeboat crew
Two
injured swans have been helped by Secret World Wildlife Centre
and BARB in the space of a week.
 On
Sunday December 3rd, Highbridge-based Secret World contacted BARB
for help after a swan had been spotted by a walker in distress
with what appeared to be a broken leg at Newtown Lake in Morland
Road, Highbridge.
BARB's inshore lifeboat was driven to the scene and launched with
two crew onboard, plus Secret World's Ellie West.
The bird was quickly captured using a net and taken to a local
vet where it was given treatment for a confirmed fractured leg
- but sadly its injuries were so severe that it had to be put
down.
 "Its
left leg was fractured in several places and it was in such a
state that there was nothing more we could do. The animal was
in a lot of distress and without BARB's help it would have suffered
much longer," said Ellie.
BARB's inshore lifeboat crew had been in action earlier
in the week when a cygnet was retrieved by Secret World after
swallowing a metre-long length of twine.
BARB has been involved in several animal rescues during the last
two years - including the rescue of two dogs stuck in thick mud
at Brean in 2004.
BARB spokesman Mark Newman added: "If distressed animals
are not rescued, people feel tempted to try and help them by venturing
into the water or mud, and thereby put their own lives at risk.
Providing that we're not jeopardising the rescue of a person elsewhere,
BARB is always happy to help."
Official
BARB Web site home page
|
