Brutally attacked swan fights for life

A vicously attacked swan is clinging onto life.

The helpless bird was shot in the neck and beaten unconscious before being spotted by a passer-by on Tuesday.

Treatment co-ordinator Wendy Hermon, from the Swan Lifeline rescue centre, went to the scene in Mill Lane, Datchet to retrieve the bird, which was taken to the veterinary hospital in Alma Road where it was feared it would not survive the night.

Wendy said: "His face is a mess. He has been shot in the neck and then beaten with a bat or something similar.

"It is the closest I have come to breaking down in the vet's."

On Saturday the bird was being cared for at the rescue centre in Cuckoo Weir Island, Eton and still had not eaten. Wendy said: "I was near to despair. Then he suddenly started eating - he really seems to want to live."

The bird will never be able to fly again - its wing was badly damaged. But if it gets better its future will be on a private lake where it can be cared for.

Wendy said: "I have seen worse caused by nature but when someone does something like this deliberately it makes you not want to give up."

"All we can do is ask people to keep an eye out for anyone they see who looks as if they may be about to carry out an attack like this."

Attacks on swans are commonplace along the Thames, often causing devastation as the birds tend to mate for life and form family units.

Call police on 101.