Animal lovers in Aberdeenshire have attacked the way authorities left the carcass of a dead swan for almost a month, next to a much-used walking path.
The Scottish SPCA were alerted to the plight of the bird in Inverurie at the beginning of March, but confirmed it was dead by the time an officer arrived at the scene.
However, a member of the public, Angie Murray, spotted the carcass this week which was still lying in the drained lade behind Canal Crescent.
And, before she could phone the Scottish SPCA, she was approached by another dog-walker who explained the organisation had already been contacted several times.
Mrs Murray said: “She told me that she had phoned them four or five times and that they were not coming out to pick up the bird.”
Scottish SPCA Chief Inspector, John Carle, replied: “We can confirm we received a call from a member of the public on March 2 regarding a distressed swan.
“An animal rescue officer attended the call immediately. Unfortunately, in the time it took for us to attend, the swan had sadly passed away.
“It is the responsibility of the local authority to remove dead animals from public places and roadways.”
An Aberdeenshire Council spokeswoman insisted it was the UK Government’s department for environment, food and rural affairs (DEFRA)’s area of duty.
However a spokeswoman for Defra said the Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA) – which works on behalf of the organisation in Scotland – were not involved.
She added: “APHA wouldn’t have a role in the removal of dead swans unless it was for disease surveillance purposes.”
Keith Marley from the New Arc animal rescue centre in Ellon was outraged the swan was left for any amount of time “whether alive or dead” and criticised the way the situation had been handled.
He said: “It is totally unacceptable there was no way of retrieving the bird – it is highly unprofessional.”
Mr Marley removed the dead female mute swan and has made arrangements for it to be collected by a local knacker.
He said: “It came out easily, but had a small amount of grass wrapped around its foot – it would have taken some time to die and would have suffered terribly.”
Canal Crescent residents, Malcolm and Diane Coutts were both baffled by the lack of action and said: “Maybe there was a good reason, but we saw a SSPCA warden there only last week – they have been fully aware of it. The pair of swans used to nest over there every year.”
Inverurie dog walker, Therese Ord, said: “Its poor mate has been coming back and forth looking for it – it breaks my heart.”
