Anger after ducklings are killed by dog
There was anger this week after family of ducklings were slaughtered by a dog on the loose.
As many as 10 ducklings are thought to have been killed after the dog was seen running up the Rosa Burn in Brodick attacking them last weekend.
Hatched in May, the threemonth-old ducklings have amassed a small following on a Facebook page and a website at www.rosaburn. co.uk, where updates on the ducklings are regularly provided by their caretakers, Julie and Adrian Cannon.
Consisting mainly of rescued and unwanted domestic ducks, they are a popular feature at the Rosa Burn bridge near the Arran Heritage Museum, where visitors and locals feed them
and sightings of herons, geese and swans and even otters can often be made.
The couple bought the burn-side property eight years ago when they inherited the resident ducks who live on their back lawn and have been looking after them ever since.
They feed and nurture the ducks and deter the seagulls and herons that swoop down to try to feed on the vulnerable newborns. After writing a message on Saturday on their Facebook page celebrating that they had ensured the survival of more than 20 ducklings this year, a message posted on Sunday described the upset and anger when a dog was seen killing the ducks.
Unfortunately, by the time that Adrian made it to the golf course bridge, the dog had run away and its owners were nowhere to be seen but a family of ducks were found dead on the river bank.
‘It is difficult to know how many have been killed as many of them will be washed away or fled in terror but we only had eight return yesterday,’ said Adrian. ‘We have not reported it to the police as we could not find the owner of the dog but this would never have happened if the dog had just been kept under control and on a leash.’
Police Scotland confirmed that they had not received any reports of the incident.