One of London’s resident breeding Peregrines, Tom, from Charing Cross Hospital in Hammersmith, is receiving veterinary care after an x-ray revealed a shotgun pellet lodged in his leg.
According to reports on social media, Tom was found grounded at the weekend and was taken for assessment at the South Essex Wildlife Hospital. It’s not clear from the information published whether the shotgun pellet was the cause of his grounding or whether it is an old injury that he’d survived.
Hopefully Tom will make a speedy recovery and can be returned to his territory ASAP.
The South Essex Wildlife Hospital has featured a few times on this blog, involved in the treatment and often successful rehabilitation of shot raptors from the south-east. It’s a registered charity – if you’d like to make a donation to support its work, please click here.
Raptor Persecution UK 
I guess we’ll never fully understand the people that do these things
Considering Tom has been the breeding tiercel there for many years and therefore it is likely that he was shot at some time while there, it also begs the question of what was someone doing with a shotgun in the area around Charing Cross Hospital?
When is this country going to ban casual ownership of shotguns? Nobody needs them. Plenty of ignorant people claim they need them but that’s just because they are useless at looking after their livestock or crops.
Clay pigeon shooting could be accommodated by club ownership, let out for the controlled session then signed back in at the end, not allowed to leave the premises.
Wildfowling, grouse and pheasant shooting have zero legitimacy: if there is a market for their meat then farm them. They don’t need to overrun the countryside with millions of the beasts so sickos can shoot them, and it would be a huge benefit to our native wildlife, as their carcasses will no longer sustain an overpopulation of generalist predators, lowering predation rates which gamekeepers use as an excuse for their depredations.
We just need some politicians who aren’t corrupted by wealth or the hope of accumulating it if they keep the rich and powerful happy.
We totally agree.
Pleased to see that he is looking pretty perky after his ordeal. Hope that there are no residual effects. Look forward to hearing that he has been successfully released
obviously some coward who can only shoot an innocent raptor who can’t shoot back. If they want to use a gun join the forces, but that won’t as they’ll get someone firing back who’s probably not a coward
I agree with all of you xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx thankfully Tom has been found and saved by his namesake well done to all.