Rare black seal pup rescued on south-east Scottish coast

The Scottish Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA) have rescued a rare black seal pup from the beach in Eyemouth in south-east Scotland. Eyemouth is a small town and civil parish in Berwickshire, in the Scottish Borders (Scottish Gaelic: Crìochan na h-Alba).  The Scottish SPCA is an animal welfare charity, which responded to a call from a member of the public who discovered the pup on December 17 and they took her to their National Wildlife Centre in Fishcross. Although the female seal showing no obvious signs of injury the Scottish SPCA took her into their care as she was dehydrated and on an area of the beach busy with dog walkers and people. All of the rescued seal pups that are brought to the Scottish SPCA are being given Harry Potter themed names and this one has been named Narcissa. The SSPCA website reported today that: “Narcissa is doing well, she is now off tube feeds and is being assist fed whole fish and we hope to release her back into the wild soon." they went on to say: “Grey seal pups which no longer have a white coat may still need our assistance if they are on a public beach and at risk, or have visible signs of injury, such as bleeding, crusty or damaged eyes, discharge from the nose, coughing or generally looking unwell. The public should contact our animal helpline and an operator will be able to assist." However, the charity also advised: “If the seal pup is not at risk and looks and acts healthy it should be left alone.”

The Scottish Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals is a charity to promote animal welfare in Scotland. They have been helping animals in need for over 175 years. Their Inspectors save thousands of domestic, farm and wild animals from harm and danger every year.  Vets and staff in their wildlife and animal rescue and rehoming centres look after, rehabilitate and rehome thousands of animals. They report that demand for their services is very high and growing. Last year the Scottish SPCA animal helpline received almost a quarter of a million calls, with inspectorate attending more than 85,000 incidents and more than 19,000 animals were cared for across their nine animal and rescue and rehoming centres, and national wildlife rescue centre. More information can be obtained from the SSPCA website.