A pregnant hedgehog who was brutally attacked in the street by a gang of boys in Shenley has sadly died, along with her three babies.
London Colney Hedgehog Rescue, where the animal was admitted after the attack, announced had to be put to sleep on Monday, June 27. The attack had occurred seven days earlier, on Monday, June 20, at around 7pm.
Several boys, thought to be between the ages of 12 and 13, were spotted kicking the hedgehog and throwing stones at it in Porters Park Drive in Shenley.
Two passers-by intervened, with the youths running off into an alleyway whilst being abusive to the interveners.
Upon arrival at the rescue centre, it was discovered the animal was pregnant. The hedgehog had also suffered the loss of sight in one of her eyes, spinal damage, a broken leg, fractured jaw and a laceration to her jaw.
She later gave birth to three hoglets, all of whom subsequently died. Vets later found the animal had been microchipped, having been born at a rescue centre last year after her mother was injured. She had been released into the wild last October.
The animal rescue centre said it was “devastated” in a Facebook post.
Investigating officer PC Dan Hill said: “We are a nation of animal lovers so I’m sure that many of you will be appalled by this incident. I would like to reassure the local community that we do take animal cruelty seriously and the Rural Operational Support Team, who specialise in dealing with rural and wildlife crime, will be assisting us with this investigation.
“If you were in the area at the time and saw what happened or have dash cam footage or CCTV or any other information that could help us to identify those involved please get in touch as soon as possible.”
You can email PC Dan Hill, report information online, use online web chat, or call the non-emergency number 101 quoting reference 41/50042/22.
0 Comments