Plea to families in Horsham after deer trapped in garden football net

A plea has gone out to families in the Horsham area after a deer had to be cut free when he became trapped in a garden football net.
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RSPCA animal welfare officer Marie Stevens was called to Nuthurst on Thursday morning (August 13) to help free the stricken animal.

“This poor roe deer was completely ensnared with the netting wrapped around his legs and his neck.

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“Once they’re caught they panic and can wrap themselves tighter and tighter in the net causing serious injuries and, sadly, sometimes death.”

A deer was trapped in netting in a garden in Nuthurst SUS-200817-105244001A deer was trapped in netting in a garden in Nuthurst SUS-200817-105244001
A deer was trapped in netting in a garden in Nuthurst SUS-200817-105244001

Luckily for this little one, Marie was able to cut him free, carry him to a safe part of the garden and release him back into the wild.

“Thankfully this guy wasn’t injured and hadn’t done himself any damage,” Marie added. “But netting can be lethal for animals.

“Many people don’t realise how dangerous netting is to animals so we want to raise awareness and hopefully stop animals from being injured - sometimes fatally - after getting caught up.”

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People are now being urged to put away football nets and other netting after use. In some instances, fox cubs have strangled themselves to death because they have been trying to free themselves.

“If animals are caught in nets and go unnoticed even for a short time, they can really suffer,” said Marie.

“The tighter the net gets, it can cut off the blood supply to their limbs, damage bones where they have tried to frantically escape, or worst of all, they could be strangled to death.

“This is why we’re asking families to remove sports nets after use and store them safely away. It only takes a few minutes and yet it could save an animal from suffering a horrible death.

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“Where netting can’t be removed, such as pond or fruit netting, we recommend replacing them with solid metal mesh.”

When the RSPCA receives a call from a member of the public about an animal tangled in netting, it is classed as an emergency and the nearest RSPCA officer is tasked to go and rescue the animal.

If they can free the animal themselves they will carefully cut away the netting before checking the animal over. If there are no problems, then they are immediately released back into the wild.

However, there are instances where the animal is so severely tangled that they have to be sedated and taken to a wildlife centre or vet for all of the netting to be cut away.

Anyone who sees an animal tangled in netting is asked to call the RSPCA immediately on 0300 1234 999.

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