Vicious attack on swan leaves rescuer in tears
A vicious attack on a swan left a veteran rescuer near to tears.
Wendy Hermon (pictured) has been treatment co-ordinator at the Swan Lifeline rescue centre in Eton for 10 years.
She was called out to the pumping station at Mill Place, Datchet, at 6.30pm on Tuesday by a member of the public who spotted the cruelly injured swan.
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. It made me not want to do the job any more. I have seen worse caused by nature but when someone does something like this deliberately it makes you not want to give up."
The swan was kept on a drip all night and there were fears it would not survive until morning.
Now it is at the rescue centre in Cuckoo Weir Island where Wendy and her team are hoping it may recover. It has also suffered a broken wing.
Wendy said: "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."
The police can be contacted on the 101 number.
