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Burnham
Hovercraft Home Page > Burnham Hovercraft
News Archive
September
30, 2006
Burnham-On-Sea
inshore lifeboat crew recovers injured swan
An
injured swan which had swallowed a fishing hook and line was rescued
from a lake by Burnham-On-Sea hovercraft group's inshore lifeboat
team on Saturday, September 30th.
 Highbridge-based
Secret World Wildlife Rescue Centre contacted BARB, the charity
that runs Burnham's hovercraft, for assistance after the distressed
bird was spotted with the tackle hanging from its mouth on a fishing
lake at Combwich, near Bridgwater.
BARB's
inshore lifeboat - which has been used to conduct several animal
rescues during the last two years - was driven by road to Combwich,
where it was launched by crew members Alan Miller, Steve Perks
and Simon Triggol with Secret World's Graeme Thompson onboard.
 Using
a large net, the rescuers captured the swan at around 1pm and
the animal was promptly taken to a local vet for emergency treatment.
Graeme
said: "The hook was firmly embedded in the swan's tongue
and there were already some signs of infection, however it was
anethsitised and the vet eventually managed to remove the hook
and line. I'm relieved to say that the bird is now recovering
and will stay at Secret World for about a week before hopefully
being released."
 "We're
very grateful to the BARB team for helping us. The swan was in
a desperate condition and needed prompt treatment. Without the
inshore boat we couldn't have helped the bird so quickly and I
think it would have been a sad outcome."
BARB
spokesman Mark Newman said: "Providing that we're not jeopardising
the rescue of a person elsewhere, BARB is always happy to help
with animal rescues. Time was clearly an issue here and a prompt
response was required. In this case, we managed to quickly launch
our inshore lifeboat. We're delighted about the positive outcome."
BARB
has been involved in several animal rescues in recent years; helping
swans at Apex Leisure Park in Highbridge, another swan at Combwich
in July, and two dogs trapped in mud at Brean in July 2004.
RELATED
LINKS:
July
2006 rescue of a swan at Combwich Lake
Official
BARB Web site home page
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