A goose has been discovered struggling to swim within the Rochdale Canal with a 4ft canine chain round his neck. The RSPCA believes somebody had tried to take the unlucky Canada goose for a walk earlier than he was left within the water.
The poor chicken was present in issue making an attempt to swim alongside the canal in Middleton on Monday (March 18). He was seen dragging the chain, measuring greater than 1.2 metres, behind him.
The chain was tightly connected to the bottom of the goose’s neck by a self-tightening nylon collar. It’s believed the lead was intentionally put onto the chicken so he could possibly be taken on a walk alongside the canal – in a stunt labelled ‘irresponsible, merciless and foolhardy’ by the RSPCA.
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The chain’s hefty weight had left the goose unable to swim or fly correctly. By the time the RSPCA workforce arrived on the scene, he was tiring within the water, and the charity says that if he hadn’t been discovered he might have develop into tangled – with deadly penalties.
Animal rescue officer Stephen Wickham, who saved the goose alongside his colleague Mark Buggie, stated: “When we acquired the decision we have been initially informed the goose had develop into twisted up in one thing, however once we arrived we might see it was really an extended piece of canine chain he was dragging alongside within the water behind him. He used what little vitality he had left to swim away from us, however we managed to dam his access utilizing the raft at a lock gate just a little additional downstream and get him out of the water.
“We discovered two canine leads had been tied collectively and the collar round his neck was self-tightening. If he’d caught it on a department or a chunk of particles within the water he might have been fatally strangled.
“We acquired the chain off and gave him a superb verify over for accidents and fortuitously couldn’t discover any.” After being caught by the specialist RSPCA workforce and checked over, the Canada goose was returned to the wild.
The ordeal left skilled animal rescuer Stephen baffled. “I’ve rescued numerous water birds over the years however I’ve by no means seen something like this earlier than,” he added.
“We’ve no concept why anybody would need to catch a goose and put a canine lead on it – we are able to solely guess these accountable could have been making an attempt to take the chicken for a walk or making an attempt to inflict hurt on it in a roundabout way. It was a reckless and unkind factor to do and will simply have resulted in severe harm or dying.”
All wild birds are protected underneath the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 and it’s an offence to deliberately kill, injure or take them besides underneath licence. The most penalty, if discovered responsible, is six months in jail and/or an infinite tremendous.
The goose in Middleton was launched again to the wild underneath licence from Natural England. Without one, it’s unlawful to return a Canada goose to the wild, as it’s an invasive species. For extra info on what to do in case you discover a sick or injured wild animal, see the RSPCA’s website.
