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Headline : Injured Seal With Plastic Toy Stuck Around Her Neck Released Back Into The Wild
Caption : A severely injured grey seal who was found with a pink plastic frisbee deeply embedded in her neck has been returned back to where she belongs, thanks to the care of staff at RSPCA East Winch Wildlife Centre.

The seal, named Pinkafo, was rescued on Waxham Beach in Norfolk in a joint operation between local charities Friends of Horsey Seals and Marine and Wildlife Rescue on Wednesday 19th December.

The pink plastic frisbee was embedded in her neck, causing a deep wound which had become severely infected. Sadly the incident echoed a very similar one from September 2017 when a very ill grey seal, later dubbed Mrs Frisbee, was also rescued and admitted to RSPCA East Winch with a yellow plastic frisbee cutting deeply into her neck.

And last month, a third grey seal, named Sir David, was rescued from a Norfolk beach after he was also found with a plastic frisbee deeply embedded in his neck. He is still being cared for at the RSPCA wildlife centre.

After four months of care by staff at East Winch, Pinkafo was released back to the wild on Wednesday 1 May at Horsey Beach, Norfolk.

Her road to recovery has been long, and when she came into the centre she weighed 67kg. During her time at the centre she was given veterinary treatment including antibiotics, pain relief and regular salt baths.

Her injury is still visible, but it has now healed enough for her to be released, and the wound will continue to improve and mend in the salt water of the sea.

Alison Charles, centre manager at East Winch, said: “Pinkafo has had a long difficult road to recovery, so it is wonderful to see her bound back into the sea where she belongs.

“The staff and volunteers have been incredible and have put in so much hard work in Pinkafo’s care, watching her return back to the wild is the result we all wanted to see.”

“Pinkafo is a very spirited seal, but when came in to us she was very subdued and the wound was just awful to see. It was deep, smelly and infected. Our vet Claudia had to carefully remove the frisbee with a pair of garden secateurs as she could not get it off with surgical scissors as it was quite brittle. She then had to pick out smaller pieces of the frisbee which were embedded in Pinkafo’s neck.

“Once the frisbee was removed Pinkafo was injected with antibiotics and pain relief. She was obviously very uncomfortable, even with the medication. She just kept laying on her back with the deepest, most infected part of the wound on the floor.

“Pinkafo spent her first three days like this. We think it may have been more comfortable for her to be like this than lying on her belly with the gaping wound open.

“Thankfully, after three days we saw a noticeable difference in her in that she turned over onto her front and began to eat. We were all so relieved.

“On Friday 4 January, she was moved from our isolation unit to the intermediate area, where she was in a quieter area and in a deeper pool.

“She later went into an outside pool, and she continued to get fitter and stronger and grumpier as the weeks went by.

“She was certainly ready to get back to the wild. Her journey to recovery just wouldn’t have been possible were it not for the volunteers who rescued her, the centre staff and volunteers who nursed her back to health, and the public who generously donate to the RSPCA to help pay for all the seals’ care.

“Although this is a happy ending for Pinkafo, there are still sadly other seals on our coastlines with frisbees caught around their necks, and we still have Sir David in our care, who will require months of TLC before he too is ready to return to the wild.”

Sir David is likely to be in RSPCA care for at least five months and he also requires salt baths as part of his rehabilitation.
PersonInImage : Pinkafo