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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
National
Joseph Connolly & Georgia Diebelius

Swan and six babies killed in horror dog attack as bird 'fought in vain to reach nest'

A swan and six unhatched baby cygnets have died after the mother was bitten by a dog.

The attack is thought to have occurred within the past week in Marston-on-Dove, between Hatton and Hilton on the south Derbyshire border.

A passer-by contacted animal rescue centre Linjoy Wildlife Sanctuary after spotting the mother swan sitting on her nest unable to move on Tuesday, May 2. The swan was rescued by the fire service, but died on its way to the vet yesterday, Thursday May 4.

Lindsey Newell, who runs the rescue centre, said: "I'm devastated. I'll be honest, when she died I was in tears. I was so angry. She's quite a well-known swan. We've dealt with her and her cygnets before. It's the way she tried in vain to get back to the nest. She really wanted to get back to her babies. "

Upon receiving the phone call on Tuesday, a volunteer from Linjoy went to examine the bird. The volunteer could only see the swan from a distance due to the nest being on the water, but it was "clear something was wrong" even from metres away across the pond.

The volunteer contacted Staffordshire Fire & Rescue Service, who travelled over to the nest by boat and captured the mother swan, which didn't react when they approached, in a safe bag. They handed her over to the volunteer, who transported her back to the Linjoy sanctuary in Etwall.

Upon examining the swan's body, Lindsey found a visible, "clearly-defined" dog bite mark on her back.

She said: "Judging by the upper and lower jaw distance on the bite mark we suspect the dog was a medium to large breed. It was obviously off the lead and entered the reed bed, going across to the nest where it was able to attack her."

The swan's wounds had been infected with flystrike by the time she got to the sanctuary. Lindsey and her team cleaned the injuries, removed maggots and administered fluids, antibiotics and pain medication.

One of the swan's legs was entirely non-functioning, and while examinations did not show any breakage, it was suspected that the bite caused a pelvis injury that affected the leg. The swan was booked in for a veterinary examination but passed away on the journey there.

Within the nest were also six eggs which the mother was nurturing at the time. Despite the swan's proximity to the eggs and the nest just metres away, she could not make it back on top of it to keep them protected and warm.

Lindsey explained that the cygnets will have all died inside the eggs due to their exposure to the conditions. The father swan was seen on the river nearby with no idea where his mate had gone.

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