VOLUNTEERS at a dale animal sanctuary have been left shocked after someone slaughtered a flock of geese.
Some 23 birds, mostly goslings, were beaten to death or had their necks broken at Wetheriggs Animal Centre, near Greta Bridge, overnight on Sunday, July 8.
Another goose was left with injuries to its wings and feet.
The massacre was discovered by full-time volunteer Tom Peverall, who described the scene as “graphic” .
He said: “We have no idea who or why anyone would do this. It is horrific. It was shocking. The ones that are left are traumatised.”
The 23-year-old added: “None of it adds up. As an animal centre we have no reason to believe why anyone would do this.”
He said the animals had been checked at about 9.30pm on Sunday to ensure they were healthy and none had escaped. They were checked again at about 8.30am on Monday when the devastation was discovered. Hundreds of feathers were left strewn across the field where the geese were kept.
Mr Peverall said: “We reared them ourselves so they would have flocked to food.”
He said it was the first time anything like this had happened at the sanctuary. The only other crime there was the theft of a couple of pigs a few years ago.
He added that police had been informed of the incident. Call 101 with information.
![A COUNTY councillor is backing a campaign to get a pedestrian crossing in Staindrop. Frustrated parish councillors in the village summoned their county council representative Cllr George Richardson to their latest meeting to discuss several issues, including the call for a safe way to cross the A688. Earlier this year their request for a crossing was turned down by the county council’s highways officers. Parish council chairman Jonothan Raper described the reasons for the refusal as “spurious” and called on Cllr Richardson to support their campaign. He added: “One of the arguments they made was there is no clear line of desire when they studied the village – well this isn’t a clear line of desire because there isn’t a crossing, people cross whenever they can. “When the lollipop person was there, one of the things I noticed was people would walk all the way down to the lollipop person to cross the road to go to the shop or to go to the school.” He added a problem of parking at the primary school is exacerbated because people are too afraid to walk their children across the road. Cllr Richardson said he had supported previous attempts for a crossing point with the first being made about 15 years ago. He added: “We went fairly well down the road with that and they looked into it. The only recommended place was where the bus stop is and to get the visibility splays, people on the other side of the road would lose their parking. “That didn’t go down well so it just died a death.” Cllr Raper said he suspected the real reason for the officers’ refusal was the cost of installing a crossing. He added that much of the cost could be recovered from savings made on not having to employ a lollipop patrol. Cllr Raper said: “A lollipop person only provides a benefit of crossing for three hours of the day. You are getting 21 extra hours of crossing time [with a pedestrian crossing].” Cllr Richardson said he would raise the issue with the county council’s cabinet member for highways, Cllr John Shuttleworth.](https://teesdalemercury.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/georgeR-120x86.jpg)
