In July an injured red kite was found by a member of the public in woodland near Corby, Northants – she’d been shot and had three shotgun pellets lodged in her body. We blogged about her here.
She was cared for by Simon Dudhill and team at The Raptor Foundation in Cambridgeshire. Simon said at the time:
“I have taken charge of a red kite that has been shot, with three shotgun pellets, in the leg, shoulder and ear. The leg and shoulder pellets are not really an issue governing the birds potential release as they are below joints. The pellet in the ear is lodged in the bony part of the skull and is causing the bird problems with balance. The vet and I both agree the bird could not be released back with the pellet still inside. We have been treating for infection and pain relief and the bird is making steady improvements. It was unable to stand on admission, but is now mobile along the floor to some degree. The vet is looking to operate later this week“.
[Photo by The Raptor Foundation]
Unfortunately, she didn’t make it.
Simon said:
“Sadly, despite two months of hard work by ourselves and our vets, we had to make the extremely disappointing decision to put her to sleep. None of her balance had returned, she was only able to get about 15 inches off the ground onto a log, and the rest of the time she was dragging her wings and body along the ground. We all felt it was not in the bird’s best interest to keep her in this poor condition, as any further improvement was not expected“.
Raptor Persecution UK 
Impossible to understand or forgive!
It is tragic that such things keep happening to our raptors. The team at The Raptor Foundation are to be commended for their efforts and the humane decision they made to release her from pain.
Such beautiful, magnificent, powerful birds. So sad. The care she received was given with love and respect.
That’s humanity for you. Some sadistic s##t shoots a harmless bird, & some better specimens try to save it!
Wonder if it was one of those few bad apples we hear so much about all over the UK
So very very sad. They are the best birds of prey ever. The person who shot her should be shot themselves. Its taken years to get those birds back into the sky’s again x
Off topic but does anyone have any info on what estate that the Kennel Club owns ? It is reported that the KC owns an Northumbrian Grouse moor, supposedly for dogs “field trials” any info would be most helpful
If you look at their website you will see that they organise events at very numerous locations all over the UK. Their website also has a “Contact Us” link for people looking for information.
I don’t think they train dogs per se, but do provide help to people who are training to become instructors.
https://www.thekennelclub.org.uk/our-resources/the-emblehope-and-burngrange-estate/
Presumably the Kennel Club own this estate. I wonder why – seems odd?
They do own this estate and employ a full time gamekeeeper