A 'Shocking and Deeply Saddening' Crime

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The animal killing at Brent Lodge Park - how could anyone do it?

A totally despicable crime that has shocked the people of Ealing and beyond.

Police are continuing their investigations following the killing of Bruce - a wallaby at Brent Lodge Park.

The animal was found by keepers on 20th October - it had been decapitated.

Here, Councillor Bassam Mahfouz writes to Ealing Today about this disgusting attack and urges everyone to show their support for the park, the animals and the keepers.

Shocked and deeply saddened... the immediate emotions I felt when I got the phone call to let me know of the horrific news that someone had not only broken into a pen at the wonderful Bunny Park, but killed a poor defenceless animal.

Like many reading this, I grew up visiting the Bunny Park. Now I have my own family and regularly take my two year old son to enjoy everything the park has to offer. For me, and I know for many others it is such a special place, combining beautiful grounds with an opportunity to observe and learn about nature and animals.

A fortnight ago somebody, and goodness knows what was going through their mind, entered the park late at night and decapitated one of the wallabies named Bruce. Regular visitors to the park will know that Bruce and Rolph had only recently arrived around 7 months ago and were still settling in.

The effects on Rolph were severe as he was clearly traumatised by the whole situation and had to be sedated in the following days. Fortunately, he has improved under the care and excellent support of Jim Gregory and the Brent Lodge Animal Park team who I have seen firsthand are so passionate about their work. It’s been a knock of course, but their resilience and response makes me even prouder of the work they do. They have worked hard and we are now looking to see if we can bring one or two new wallabies to join him. We have also liaised with the zoological society to ensure that we have taken appropriate steps to protect the animals at the park, bearing in mind this is an isolated incident.

It is shocking that somebody would do this to such a poor defenceless creature and the manner in which it was done. Clearly we need to find out who was responsible and I am appealing for anyone who has any information about the incident to come forward and let the police know. Please call Ealing Police on 020 8721 7030 or Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.

I’ve been back a few times to the park and it’s still the same wonderful place it’s always been.

I’d encourage everyone to take the opportunity this weekend to take the family down and show their support for the Animal Centre team and to Rolph.

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Cllr Bassam Mahfouz
Labour Councillor for Northolt West End
Ealing Cabinet member for Environment & Transport
twitter.com/BassamMahfouz

3rd November 2011