KILDARE PET RESCUE: Miraculous Doris the swan

A couple of weeks ago we received a late-night call about a very sick female swan on a nest. A member of our volunteer wildlife response team went to investigate. There she found a large protective male swan standing watching over his nest and sick partner.

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The female was very sick and needed to see a vet urgently. As we needed to take her away, we decided to take her two eggs with us. We found it strange that there were only two eggs as swans often have six to nine eggs. Maybe something or someone had taken the others.

The wonderful vets at MiNight Vet Emergency Care, Kildare, saw her straight away and gave her excellent care and compassion — but sadly the wounds were old, infected and she was giving up her fight, so the tough decision was made to euthanise her. It was a very upsetting move for everyone, but the right thing to do for the female. The eggs were then dropped to me at Kildare Animal Foundation, where I had an egg incubator waiting. We were unsure if they would hatch or not but on Thursday two weeks ago, I woke up to a little cygnet that had just emerged from its shell.

Right away I informed our volunteers and they were overjoyed — out of such sadness came happiness. Then on Sunday the second egg hatched. We posted some videos on our Facebook page of her hatching so please do have a look and view the wonderful precious moments. The first cygnet we named Doris, after Doris Day who was a wonderful advocate for animals, and died recently. The cygnets will stay with us until fully grown and be released in September all going well. Please do follow our Facebook pages for more updates on this miraculous pair.

Dog Food Appeal

Our dog food supply is running very low. We have always gotten a good response from our food appeals which we appreciate so much. If you could help by donating a bag of dog food, our doggies would be delighted.

Any food donations can be dropped to the shelter between 10am and 4pm.

Kildare Animal Foundation, located outside Kildare town, is a voluntary organisation that provides a safe haven for neglected or abused animals. Tel: 045 522929, email [email protected]

or log on to www.animalfoundation.ie.  All donations welcome.