Wally escaped from SCNE – At the Farm, in Leadgate, on Saturday afternoon
08:16, 02 Jun 2026Updated 08:21, 02 Jun 2026
Near miss with the missing wallaby on the A692 Leadgate Bypass
A wallaby has been sighted at a North East business park as attempts to rescue the animal continue. Wally the eight-month-old wallaby escaped from his new home in Consett, County Durham, on Saturday afternoon.
His owners believe he escaped from SCNE – At the Farm on Durham Road, in Leadgate, Consett, after being spooked by a member of the public who climbed over a fence onto the land where Wally was staying with his brother. So far, attempts to rescue him have been unsuccessful.
Jamie Cairns, the Managing Director of SCNE – At the Farm, said: “I think somebody came onto the land and it got scared because it didn’t know who it was, then it forced its way out. I then saw it on the camera which picks up his movements because that’s when my phone pinged.
“When I checked it I saw that he’d bolted across the farm. I drove straight up to have a look for it.”
Despite several attempts to usher Wally back to the farm, he is currently still missing. He was spotted at Prospect Business Park on Monday and was also picked up on dash cam beside the A692 Leadgate Bypass over the weekend.
Anyone who spots Wally is advised not to approach him as “he’s scared and not quite sure where he is”.
Jamie added: “Let us know where he is if he is spotted, but don’t approach him because although he’s very friendly I don’t want to scare him too much. If we find out where he is, we can usher him back towards [the farm].
“That’s all we did this morning when we couldn’t catch them, we just tried to usher them back onto the field and then help him back towards our farm.”
Jamie said Wally hasn’t ventured too far from the farm and hopes that, with their help, once he recognises his surroundings and his brother’s scent he will be able to find his way back.
He added: “We’ve only had him a couple of weeks, that’s one of the frustrating things – because he won’t fully be aware of all his surroundings, smells and all the rest of it. If he’d been with us for a little while then it wouldn’t be a problem. If he’d gotten out of his pen he probably would have just stayed on our farm.”
SCNE – At the Farm is a “therapy farm” working with disabled children with disabilities. The children can feed, pet, and sit with animals, as well as help with farm duties, such as building pens.
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