Herford/Bielefeld – Little hedgehog, what torments did you have to endure?
Students played football with a girl hedgehog in a schoolyard in Bielefeld (North Rhine-Westphalia) and almost kicked the animal to death.
Completely exhausted, emaciated and infected with a stubborn skin fungus, the six-month-old animal, which is actually nocturnal, must have wandered around during the day. The children discovered it and tortured it instead of helping.
“Joy” wandered around the schoolyard, emaciated and sick
Photo: Mark Groundwater/Igelhilfe Herford
A resident watched the children from her window and noticed that they were not kicking a ball, but a living creature. Adults are said to have stood by and not intervened.
Horrified, she contacted the “Igelhilfe Herford” and stopped the heartless children. The woman brought the hedgehog girl to the volunteers in Herford and probably saved his life.
The helpers fed Joy, who weighed just 280 grams, with a syringe
Photo: Mark Groundwater/Igelhilfe Herford
Joy, as the carers called the little foundling, must have endured incredible torture. The children kept throwing the hedgehog across the yard as if it were a ball.
Joy’s collarbone was broken by the children’s kicks. She had to have surgery and her bones had to be straightened.
The hedgehog broke his collarbone as a result of the kicks – the bone had to be moved back surgically
Photo: Igelhilfe Herford
“In addition to the major shock and the break, Joy was also very emaciated, weighed just 280 grams and had a stubborn skin fungus,” explains hedgehog rescuer Kerstin Pehlke (43).
“I am stunned by the children’s carelessness and the way they treat a living creature,” says animal rights activist Kerstin Pehlke (43) from the “Igelrettung Herford” association to BILD.
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It is unclear whether she will ever recover
The day after the discovery, the association contacted the school administration and asked to discuss the case with the students. Contrary to expectations, the school management’s reaction was rather negative. To avoid unnecessary hate attacks, the association decided not to publish the school’s name.
It is uncertain whether Joy can ever be released back into the wild. “It will take time for her to recover from the operation,” says Pehlke. Afterwards the hedgehog girl should learn to walk again in a run. “We hope that at some point we can release them into the wild.”
Uncertain future: It will take some time for Joy to recover from her ordeal
Photo: Igelhilfe Herford-OWL eV/Facebook
2024-04-30 13:49:14
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