Swan charity says 'it's about time' as police step up action on wildlife crime

Police have called for witnesses for abuse against animals in Windsor and Maidenhead - and the appeal has been hailed as a positive step by wildlife charity Swan Support.

On Thursday, May 16, Thames Valley Police issued a neighbourhood alert stating the force had received reports of youths using catapults to injure wildlife in the Royal Borough.

“This appalling act of firing catapults at wildlife is an offence,” the appeal said. “The Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 protects wild animals, plants and habitats.

“We would encourage the public to continue to report this to us to help tackle this crime.”

These crime reports relate to attacks using catapults and pellet guns on swans, which have been ongoing for years.

This call to action has been well-received by the charity Swan Support, based in Bray, which rescues sick and injured swans in the region.

Wendy Hermon, operations director, said: “It happens all the time and it's just getting worse.

“We’ve had 25 birds shot with catapults or air guns since the beginning of November last year.”

“That’s just the ones we actually get. We get reports all the time that there are youths with catapults and guns shooting at the wildlife.”

Easter weekend saw a particularly stark example, with a swan couple of 20 years attacked and shot several times.

Vets found five pieces of ammunition from a catapult and an air weapon in the female’s head, neck and wing.

The male was found dead. Despite the vets’ best efforts for the female, she died as well.

“The people around shooting the wildlife don’t give a care for what they're doing and we’ve had enough of it,” said Wendy.

“It’s not just wildlife, people are shooting at people’s pets, cars, livestock – there was an incident in Datchet five weeks ago where they catapulted the lambs.

“Something's got to be done now. We just want people to report it and the police to take it more seriously, which to be fair, they are doing.

“I will say Thames Valley Police in Maidenhead at the moment have been really good.”

It has not always been the case – in the past, police have not always acted as much as Swan Support would like.

“Before the end of last year, when [an animal] was shot, the police would just file it and not investigate it,” said Wendy.

“We had enough so we put complaints in to the top, saying Thames Valley Police didn’t seem to treat it seriously enough.”

The charity spoke to Matthew Barber, the Police and Crime Commissioner for Thames Valley, about two years ago and have since written to him.

“It’s all gone from there,” said Wendy. “The police are doing something about it now.”

“They’re going to be doing patrols in areas where it's happened. We cover a big area and they’re increasing their patrols in hotspot areas.

“We’ve been meeting with them – we had a meeting with them last week and they’re really trying to stamp down on wildlife crime.”

“It’s about time they're taking it a bit more seriously,” she said.

“[This appeal] is a bit of recognition that the police are not going to accept this behaviour any more.”

Facing calls to step up its game in August last year, Thames Valley Police said it ‘take[s] wildlife crime extremely seriously, including swans being killed or attacked.’

The force conceded that frustratingly not all offences can lead to prosecutions.

To report any suspicious behaviour surrounding wildlife crimes, call 101, or if you think it is an emergency, call 999, say the police.