A gang of children have sparked outrage after a swan was brutally attacked and later died following a sickening incident described as ‘deliberate cruelty’.<\/p>\n
The helpless animal was targeted at Canoe Lake in Portsmouth, Hampshire, where swans are known to reside.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Horrified witnesses said the group of youngsters threw sticks and stones at the bird before viciously kicking and stamping on her in what has been described as a ‘senseless and unprovoked attack’.<\/p>\n
Despite being rushed to a vet, the female swan succumbed to her injuries and died 24 hours later.<\/p>\n
Animal rescue charity Swan Support confirmed they were called to the lake after the incident and shared their heartbreak over the shocking scenes.<\/p>\n
A spokesperson for the charity said: ‘We were called to a lake in Portsmouth following a deeply upsetting report of deliberate cruelty towards one of the resident swans.<\/p>\n
‘Eyewitnesses told us that a group of children had thrown stones and sticks at the swan, before repeatedly kicking and stamping on her.<\/p>\n
‘The level of force used was clearly intended to cause serious harm.<\/p>\n
![\"The](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/101663039-15046881-image-a-32_1756469620743.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
The helpless animal was targeted at Canoe Lake in Portsmouth, Hampshire, where swans are known to reside<\/p>\n
‘Shockingly, it’s been reported that there was an adult with them who soon disappeared when approached by witnesses and that the children’s parents were sitting across the park at the time.<\/p>\n
‘We are absolutely heartbroken by what this swan has endured. The fear and pain she must have felt in such a senseless and unprovoked attack is unimaginable.<\/p>\n
‘It’s deeply concerning that we are seeing more of these incidents – and even more so when they involve children.<\/p>\n
‘This isn’t just about wildlife. It’s about empathy, compassion, and the values we instill in the next generation.’<\/p>\n
Confirming the bird’s death, the charity added: ‘With heavy hearts, we share that she passed away\u2026<\/p>\n
‘We are utterly heartbroken. We tried everything we could, but it wasn’t enough – and for that, we are so deeply sorry.<\/p>\n
‘You deserved a kinder world. Fly free now, beautiful girl.’<\/p>\n
The attack has prompted widespread anger and calls for stronger education around animal welfare and youth behaviour.<\/p>\n
Hampshire Constabulary confirmed they are investigating the incident.<\/p>\n
A spokesperson for the force said: ‘We are aware of an incident whereby two children were reported to have attacked a swan at Canoe Lake, Southsea, on Monday, August 25 at around 9pm.<\/p>\n
‘The swan has since died. Enquiries are ongoing.’<\/p>\n
Share or comment on this article:
\n Gang of feral kids throw stones at swan before kicking defenceless animal to death in ‘senseless’ attack<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Is YOUR town being terrorised by children? Email lettice.bromovsky@dailymail.co.uk\u00a0 By LETTICE BROMOVSKY, NEWS REPORTER Published: 08:14 EDT, 29…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":100847,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[97,59,57,58,50,56,54,55],"class_list":{"0":"post-100846","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-united-kingdom","8":"tag-dailymail","9":"tag-gb","10":"tag-great-britain","11":"tag-greatbritain","12":"tag-news","13":"tag-uk","14":"tag-united-kingdom","15":"tag-unitedkingdom"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/100846","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=100846"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/100846\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/100847"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=100846"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=100846"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=100846"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}