Paralysed ferret found in dog waste bin
Published: Thursday, 29 March, 2018
A paralysed ferret was left to die in a dog waste bin – now Stroud District Council Animal Welfare officers want to track down who was responsible.
The young animal was discovered by a member of the public at 2pm today, inside the bin, unable to escape from a pile of dog faeces. Sadly due to its severe injuries, it was put down by a vet.
"The person who found it said that initially they thought it was dead until it moved,” said SDC Animal Welfare Officer Alexandra Myrie. “We opened the bin and quite clearly it was alive but it had a serious head wound and could not move its back legs.
“It wanted to try and get out but was unable to – it was a horrific sight.”
She and Environmental Enforcement Officer Josie Oak carefully lifted the ferret in to a cat carrier and conveyed it from Uplands, Stroud to a veterinary surgery nearby.
“The dog bin got hot inside and it would have been dehydrated,” said Josie. “The ferret had the loop of a dog faeces bag wrapped around its neck. Leaving it in a dog waste bin, in pain like that, was clearly an incredibly cruel act.
“It had a severe head wound and its back legs were paralysed. The vet took the only decision they could, sadly, to put it down.”
Whoever was responsible could be prosecuted under Sections 4 and 9 of the 2006 Animal Welfare Act, for causing unnecessary suffering to a protected species, and for failing to meet an animal’s needs.
The alarm was raised at around 2pm today and the bin is next to the Uplands allotments and playing fields off Folly Lane.
SDC Environment Committee chairman Simon Pickering said:
“I am horrified by this appalling abuse of animals and I wish to thank our Animal Welfare team for taking the appropriate action. I have a real soft spot for ferrets and in the past had several pet ferrets, they are really fun little animals.”
Anyone who has any information on how the animal was injured or came to be in the bin should call Stroud District Council’s Animal Welfare team on 01453 754 492.