Upset as animal pens ‘trashed’ at children’s nursery
TOTS have been left devastated after chickens and ducks at their nursery were attacked by vandals, leaving one bird decapitated and others missing.
Staff arrived at Staghills Children’s Centre in Newchurch on Monday morning to find that a chicken coop and duck pen at their forest school had been vandalised in a sickening attack.
Head of centre Linda Connelly said the chicken coop was “kicked in” while the duck enclosure had been “trashed” at the centre, on Top Barn Lane.
She said: “We have a forest school enclosed at the side of the nursery, the children have some chickens and ducks that they look after. The roof on the chicken coop had been damaged and the mesh that kept them enclosed had been kicked in, the chickens had been hit with sticks.
“The enclosure where the ducks were kept has been trashed, they are now missing and one of the ducks has been decapitated.”
Police said they could not confirm whether the duck had been killed by the vandals or if it might have been killed by another animal after escaping from its enclosure.
Linda said the break in had been distressing for everyone connected to the nursery.
She said: “The staff and children have been left very upset about the whole thing and parents are equally upset about it. The children learn a lot from having these animals on site, but we don’t want to keep animals if they are going to be at risk.
“We have had a lot of support from parents coming into the centre and posting on our Facebook page.
“Over the last few weeks at the weekends we have had some minor vandalism in the forest school, like people leaving taps running or opening sheds and leaving stuff strewn about.
“But last weekend it was a different story.”
Ms Connelly said the children have been making posters to put up around the centre in a bid to put a stop to the vandalism, adding that one girl even came in dressed as a superhero to protect the animals.
A Lancashire Police spokesman said: “Damage was caused to the chicken coop and duck pen at the children’s centre. One of the ducks was found dead but we can’t confirm whether the offenders have done it or it was killed by an animal. The incident is still under investigation.”
If you have information please call police on 101.