Three days ago, South Yorkshire Police appealed for information after a sparrowhawk was shot dead, glued to a stick, wrapped inside a plastic bag and dumped in a drainage ditch (here).
The grisly discovery was made by a member of the public in the Thorne area of Doncaster, close to the canal, on Sunday 10th April.
Photos have now been released, including an x-ray showing the pellet embedded in the bird’s body:
Investigating officer PC Sarah Barrowcliffe of South Yorkshire Police said:
“Sparrowhawks are a protected species and it is an offence to harm them. This was a shocking act of violence against a beautiful and defenceless bird, and officers are working hard to identify those responsible.
South Yorkshire Police is committed to the investigation of serious wildlife offences, including the killing of birds of prey.”
Anyone with information please call South Yorkshire Police on Tel 101, quoting incident number #918 of April 11th 2022.
Raptor Persecution UK 
…let’s hope someone comes forward with some information
This is absolutely appalling!This must be stopped!Our wildlife is vital to our world and this must never happen again!Please,please help to end this barbaric business.
Was this a glue stick to capture the bird in order to shoot it do we know? Whatever it was it is appalling and the culprit deserves to face the full force of the law.
That crossed my mind too. Seems more plausible than sticking a dead bird to a twig
Time that air guns/pellet guns should be registered the same as shotguns and rifles etc.
They’ve done that in Scotland. I’d be interested if there are any statistics relating to reduction wildlife offences since that