Saturday 13 November 2010

Seal found in main street of Scottish town

A seal pup is recovering at an animal rescue centre after it was washed into Helensburgh's main street on Friday morning.


The animal, which is thought to be three or four weeks old and female, was swept into the town's main street in the early hours.

A passer-by spotted the animal outside a shop in the town's West Clyde Street who alerted the police, who then contacted the Hessilhead Wildlife Rescue Trust, an animal welfare charity based in Beith.

It is thought that the pup became separated from other seals during a period of bad weather, the wind and waves carrying the animal ashore.

The seal pup is now being cared for by the charity at their rescue centre. It is not thought to have suffered any injuries and is thought to be in good health, but is getting treated with antibiotics as a precaution.

It was, however, suffering from dehydration and has lost a lot of weight since becoming separated from its mother. The charity is confident that the pup will make a full recovery.

The local charity takes in injured and orphaned wild animals, and last year cared for almost 3,500. They currently have two other seal pups in their care, a common seal that was found in the River Clyde near Glasgow Green and a grey seal that came from Ayr.

David O'Reilly from Hessilhead Wildlife Rescue said: "They each eat about 30-50 herrings a day, so they will be keeping us busy with the amount of fish that they will eat over the winter."

It is expected that the animal will be released back into the wild early next year.

By John Kilbride

http://news.stv.tv/scotland/west-central/208636-seal-pup-recovering-after-being-washed-into-helensburghs-main-street/

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