RSPCA saves family of swans caught in a lock

Seven cygnets and 2 adult swans who ended up being caught in a Cardiff lock have actually been required to safety by RSPCA rescuers.

Fears were raised about the family of 9 who were not able to get away from an obsolete lock, with the water around 30 to 40 feet below the top, at Cardiff Bay near the Norwegian Church.

Although the 9 swans had lots of room to swim in the obsolete lock and had a nest on the banking – issues were raised by a number of members of the general public and likewise by South Wales Swan Rescue as they were not able to delegate a bigger body of water.

Pressure

RSPCA Cymru said that the flightless cygnets – who were around 8 weeks old – would not get adequate water experience to fly at this place as there wasn’t adequate space for the flying workout and would require to be moved.

RSPCA rescuers Ellie West, Rohan Barker, Carl Hone and Christine McNeil went to on Tuesday 25 July together with Swan Rescue for the operation which took around 2 hours to finish.

During this time the expert rescue group were using extra Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) due to safety measures with the existing scenario with bird influenza – which put an included pressure on the rescuers due to the heat.

They were likewise enjoyed by a crowd of onlookers.

RSPCA wildlife officer Ellie West said: “Logistically this was a tricky one and the body of water was quite low down. It meant that we were unable to lower our boat down ourselves and required the help of the fire service.”

Release

South Wales Fire & Rescue Service sent throughout a team from Bridgend and utilizing their expert equipment they had the ability to decrease the boat into the lock for Ellie, Rohan and Carl to board securely.

“It was certainly not an easy rescue,” said Ellie. “The swans naturally didn’t wish to be captured so we needed to do our finest to capture them as thoroughly as possible.

“After a number of stopped working efforts – we handled to capture each of the swans separately – and they were each put in a bag to be raised up the wall. This did take a while however it was definitely worth it when we had the ability to launch the family a little more away in the primary dock.

“We’d like to thank Peter Martin from Swan Rescue for participating in together with the fire service for their help – as without them we would not have actually had the ability to get the boat in and out of the water.

“We’d also like to thank Associated British Port who gave us permission to carry out the rescue as it was on their land.”

The rescue comes as the RSPCA released its Cancel Out Cruelty fund-raising campaign last month to help the charity’s officers continue to rescue animals like this family of swans and is advising individuals to contribute to help it continue this essential work.

To report issues about an animal that is ill, hurt or in risk, please get in touch with the RSPCA’s helpline on 0300 1234 999.

For more details about what to do if you discover a hurt wild animal, please go to the RSPCA’s website: