Deer slaughtered in Burnley park

Horrified golfers and rangers found the animals – one dying and one which had been skinned and decapitated. Burnley Borough Council’s park rangers are always on the lookout for any suspicious behaviour and are now appealing to the public to keep their eyes open too.

Deer found butchered in Padiham - click here

Mr Brian Goodwill, who took the picture (right) of a lovely roe deer in the park a few days before the second deer was found, said a lady golfer was horrified to find the skin of a deer near the course. Its severed head was later found but there was no trace of the torso which had presumably been taken for its meat.

A council spokesman confirmed that this was the second deer found in the park in the past two weeks. The first one was found by a ranger badly injured and the RSPCA was called out to destroy it humanely, but it died before they arrived. They were not sure how it had been injured but believe it could have been hit by a car and left for dead.

The second killing, last week, was obviously the victim of foul play, he said. Both incidents have been reported to the police.