Dead squirrels caught in Weston Park traps spark outrage
On Facebook, one commentator, Jeneen Schive, wrote: "Visitors to Weston Park have been confronted with a distressing sight: Squirrel traps placed high in the trees, leaving injured or even dead squirrels caught and visible for all to see."This heartbreaking displays of animal cruelty cannot be ignored….these traps are causing unnecessary suffering to innocent creatures."The spokeswoman for the park said estate managers were now carrying out a review of everything they do to manage the squirrel population on the estate."We have a responsibility to control the population of grey squirrels, a non-native invasive species, in a humane and controlled manner," she added."We fully understand our visitors care and concern for the park and its wildlife and we remain committed to ensuring that all necessary actions are carried out responsibly in accordance with best practices."
Follow BBC Shropshire on BBC Sounds, Facebook, X and Instagram.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Daily Mail
2 hours ago
- Daily Mail
CHRISTOPHER STEVENS reviews Mudtown: Let off a pet killer? This soft-touch magistrate will live to regret it...
Mudtown (U&Alibi) Are you an easy touch, a bleeding-heart liberal? Take this simple quiz to find out, based on a courtroom scene in the South Wales crime drama Mudtown. Imagine you're a magistrate. A young man, Sonny Higgins (Lloyd Meredith), is brought before the bench. A glance at his psychiatric report tells you he suffered a tough childhood — brought up in council care, when he was seven years old his foster mother killed herself. He discovered her body. It's a shocking story. But Higgins is in court for animal cruelty: he threw his ex-girlfriend's chihuahua off an eighth floor balcony. Asked why he did it, he tells the court with a smirk: 'Dog barking, ex shouting, just wanted peace and quiet. It worked.' That, to me, is genuinely unforgivable. I'd sentence him to transportation for life, if it was still possible. Magistrate Claire (Erin Richards) takes a different view. Higgins has 'turned over a new leaf'. He's let off with a fine. By the end of the first episode in this six-part thriller, we realised karma has some cosmic retribution planned for Claire. Higgins's new girlfriend is her own daughter, A-level student Beca (Lauren Morais). And whatever he's got in store for her, it won't involve the Oxbridge entrance exams. The show is filmed in Newport, along the coast from Cardiff, with the city's distinctive magistrates' court featured prominently. There's a romantic sheen cast over the docks, a sort of soft focus shimmer, though that might be drizzle. Co-writers Georgia Lee (herself a magistrate) and Hannah Daniel (who played lawyer Cerys in another Welsh drama, Keeping Faith) did part of their research by sitting in the court's public gallery, watching real cases. Fans of Keeping Faith will lap up Mudtown. Both dramas are centred on strong-minded, competent women, haunted by their past mistakes, juggling jobs and family while married to fairly useless men. Claire's husband is played by Matthew Gravelle, who made such a strong impression in Broadchurch that I wouldn't trust him if he was playing St Francis of Assisi. But the most dangerous man in her life is former childhood sweetheart Pete (Tom Cullen), now a small-town Mr Big. He turns up in the ladies' toilets at court, trying to intimidate Claire into jailing a defendant who could cause trouble for him. 'Don't let him out,' Pete warns menacingly. 'He's gonna be safer inside.' Instead, she lets the youth walk free on bail. Sure enough, he gets two bullets in the stomach as he goes to fetch fish and chips. He'd have been better off if Claire was the lock-'em-up-and-throw-away-the-key type. But she grew up in poverty on a housing estate, and likes to think she's 'one of the people' — spending her coffee breaks chatting to tramps, that sort of thing. Oh, and don't call them tramps, says Claire. They're 'human beings'. Yes, your Worship.
BBC News
9 hours ago
- BBC News
Stoke-on-Trent stabbing suspect detained under Mental Health Act
A man who was arrested after a stabbing in Stoke-on-Trent has been detained under the Mental Health Act, police have confirmed.A man in his 60s suffered potentially life-threatening injuries when he was attacked on Victoria Road in Fenton at about 09:15 BST on was taken to hospital, but has since been discharged and is now recovering, Staffordshire Police suspect, a man in his 20s from Stoke-on-Trent, had been arrested on suspicion of wounding with intent, the force added, and was detained after he was assessed by medical professionals. A police spokesperson said officers were continuing with their inquiries but were not looking for anyone else in connection with the incident. Follow BBC Stoke & Staffordshire on BBC Sounds, Facebook, X and Instagram.
BBC News
14 hours ago
- BBC News
Birmingham dog owner banned after pet found in 'squalid' room
A woman has been banned from owning animals for ten years after confining her dog to a room in her flat that inspectors described as "squalid".Louise Downton, 25, of Rattle Croft in Stechford, Birmingham, was found guilty in absence of failing to ensure animal welfare at Birmingham Magistrates Court on 4 was given a ten-year animal disqualification and ordered to pay £400 in costs."The stench of faeces and urine coming from inside the property was evident through the bottom panel in the front door, which had been removed," said RSPCA Inspector Boris Lasserre. He said the dog, Princess, was confined to the living room and was visibly underweight, while there were hazardous materials on the floor, including broken glass."The floor of the living room was stained and damp with urine. There were stains of smeared and trodden faeces, as well as numerous faecal deposits," he said."There was no food or water available... two steel bowls were on the floor, one upturned in the living room, the other empty on the balcony, a third empty bowl was on the cabinet by the open window."The back of the door had numerous scratch marks where she had pawed at the doors. The area of the floor around the living room door was caked in a layer of faeces."Princess was taken to RSPCA Birmingham Animal Hospital on 15 August 2024, where her weight was recorded as RSPCA said while in its care she made a full recovery and her weight increased by 30% in the first 30 mitigation, Downton said she was struggling to look after herself at the time, but has since turned her life around and was remorseful. Follow BBC Birmingham on BBC Sounds, Facebook, X and Instagram.
