Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
TORMENT OF
SEALS all around the coast are being terrorised by reckless tourists or dogs off leads, leading wildlife presenter Chris Packham to make an urgent appeal.
Rescue centres have been left to treat the wild mammals for dog bites or injuries sustained as they flee dog attacks or beachgoers taking selfies with them.
Just this week, shocking pictures showed lawyer Rebecca Sabben-clare running to her dog Toby which was mauling a seal called Freddie Mercury.
A passer-by tried desperately to drag Toby off the nine-year-old, which had been sunbathing at Hammersmith Bridge in Barnes, south-west London.
Freddie had to be put down as he could not be released back to the wild after suffering a broken flipper.
TV host Chris hopes Freddie’s death acts as a wake-up call. He said: “I hope people get up tomorrow and think, ‘My dog’s a bit of a rogue. I’ll keep it on the lead today’. Then that seal hasn’t died in vain if people change their behaviour. And again, we must stress it’s nothing to do with the dogs. It’s bonkers... there’s dogs just running everywhere.”
Dennis Drew, the director and trustee of Mablethorpe Seal Sanctuary, Lincs, says: “We’ve been out to three or four seals in a couple of weeks, where seals have been out on the beach and we’ve seen dogs off the lead.
“If people see seals on a beach, then they should have their dogs on a lead.”
In one shocking example of a dog attack, a seal pup was mauled at Hunmanby Gap near Filey, North Yorks, just over a year ago. The underweight and recently weaned pup had puncture wounds to its head and rear flipper. Dog paw prints could be seen in the sand.
The pup was given first aid before being taken to a rehabilitation centre.
Terry Leadbetter, who ran the seal rescue unit in Milford Haven for many years and continues to rescue seal pups as co-ordinator for Welsh Marine Life Rescue, says: “We had a call and saw a woman with a dog setting into a seal and it received several bites. Half a dozen people tried to drag the dog off the seal but he wasn’t having any of it.
“We managed to get the seal away that time from the dog. The woman turned round and asked ‘What’s this seal doing on the beach?’.”
One harrowing video showing a dog harassing a seal pup on a beach in the North West was shared by British Divers Marine Life Rescue on Facebook.
A spokesman said: “The pup is panicking and trying to escape into the sea while a dog is allowed by its owner
We have been to three or four seals in two weeks. If you see seals keep dogs on a lead DENNIS DREW DIRECTOR OF THE MABLETHORPE SEAL SANCTUARY
HORROR Rescuers attend to hurt Freddie
to continue attacking it. It had gone out to sea before [a medic] arrived.
“We always advise anyone who finds a pup to keep well back and avoid disturbing it – seals haul out to rest, sleep and digest food, but pups may also be exhausted, ill or injured and just simply need to be left alone.”
Dogs off leads, even usually well behaved ones, often attack seals in the North East, says Richard Ilderton, of the Tynemouth Seal Hospital. He added: “You have to remember that a seal can also do a lot of damage. I have scars - and that’s just from the young pups.
“One volunteer was given a very nasty bite by a seal she was rescuing. Whilst they look cute, they could do a lot of