Police and the RSPCA are investigating after a driver posted on social media that he'd just witnessed a van driver deliberately run over a family of ducks and ducklings crossing the road. The post went viral in the past 24 hours today (May 21), prompting both the police and the RSPCA to say they are investigating what happened.
The post contained sickening images of three of the ducklings who were squashed and killed by the wheels of the van, when the driver allegedly overtook a queue of traffic that had stopped to let them cross the A34 at the Trentham Gardens roundabout in the south of Stoke. Steven Walley wrote in a Facebook post which he asked people to share: “I’ve just been driving on the A34 at Trentham Gardens roundabout when a family of seven ducklings were crossing the road.
“All the traffic stopped to let them cross but disgustingly this van driver, after initially stopping, could not then wait for the five seconds it would have taken to let them cross and drove straight over them, crushing three of them.” Mr Walley said he then followed the van to a nearby layby, where he had what he described as a “very heated conversation” with the driver.
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Police said they are trying to establish if any offences had been committed under the Wildlife and Countryside Act. A statement posted by Staffordshire police said: “We are aware of a post circulating of a van driver who is believed to have killed ducklings in Trentham. We have made contact with the author of the post and are establishing potential offences under the Wildlife and Countryside Act.
“We understand this is an emotive issue for many people and we ask please that you do not take matters into your own hands," he added. The RSPCA also tweeted a response to the post. "We understand police are looking into this shocking incident. We'd urge anyone who has first-hand information about this to contact local police on 101 or our cruelty line on 0300 1234 999. Our phone lines are currently very busy so apologies if there's a delay getting through," they said.
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