A animal welfare officer who works for the RSPCA in England says a group of thugs spat at her face and said “have Corona, b****” as she tried to save a stranded swan.
According to reports, Leanne Honess-Heather was called out to help the bird when it became entangled in fishing line at Rush Lyvars Fishing lake in Hull, England on Saturday.
During the operation to free the bird, however, Leanne says she was attacked by a group of five boys aged between 16 and 17.
When she asked if they could move back, for their own safety more than anything else, they responded violently. The group cursed at her and two of them spat in her mouth and eyes.
Leanne recalled: “While the rescue itself was much the same as any other, the reaction from these teenagers was far from it.
“The group were in the park nearby and walked over to see what I was doing.
“I was on my own and wrestling with the swan on the ground when I asked them to stand back for their and the swan’s sake.
“They seemed to take offence to this, which led to two of the group spitting directly into my face, going in my mouth and eyes, as they yelled “have Corona b****” at me.
“Like many other frontline services, most of my team are still out during this crisis, trying our best to continue to do our job, tending to, collecting and rescuing injured animals.
“It’s really challenging working in these difficult conditions and we are doing our very best to keep ourselves and the public safe, while helping the animals who most need us, so this was a really upsetting experience.
“I’m happy to say the swan had no long-term injuries and, after being cut free of the fishing line at the vets and being checked over, I released him back to the river.”
Needless to say, this sort of mindless abuse will never be welcome. We can only hope these thugs are met with the justice they deserve.
Please join us in sending well wishes to Leanne.
Share this article if you hope the thugs responsible for spitting at her and calling her names get what they truly deserve.
