A WILDLIFE rescuer was called out twice in one morning to attend to deer that had been chased by dogs.
The first callout was to Bookham Common, where a pregnant Roe deer had been savaged by dogs and chased in to a pond.
The second was to the M25/M23 junction in east Surrey, where a male Roe deer had been attacked and had fled onto the motorway. Both its front legs had been totally shattered.
Both incidents were attended by Simon Cowell, founder of the Leatherhead-based Wildlife Aid Foundation (WAF).
At the second incident, traffic was backed up for miles as the motorway link road had to be closed off.
Mr Cowell said: "A very sad morning with deer callouts. Both were chased by dogs.
"It is so vital to keep your dogs under control at all times both for the sake of wildlife and for the safety of your dog.
"People need to know the havoc their dogs can cause. Remember too that it is not the dog's fault but the lack of training and control by the owners.
"Sadly, deer attacked by dogs more often than not result in a very unhappy ending, as was the case with both of these poor animals.
"Please, please keep your dogs trained and under control, or better still on a lead if you cannot entirely trust them.
"This is in the interests of the dog too, as often a dog will chase deer onto a road – and the dog is just as likely to get knocked down as the deer."
Mr Cowell, who is also the presenter of the TV series "Wildlife SOS" (showing every Sunday on Animal Planet), said that the following day he had taken call about an injured deer – but this time there was a happy ending.
"It was 3am but we work round the clock and we take all these reports seriously," he continued.
"In this case the deer had collided with a car but seemed only to have received a glancing blow and when I got to the scene of the accident he was luckily able to get up and run off. All four legs seemed in good working order/
"Sadly this is not usually the case when a deer runs onto the road and collides with a vehicle.
"It is so important for drivers to slow down when there are deer about and to keep an eye open for these creatures as they are likely to rush out 'from out of nowhere' in front of your car."
He added: "Very soon there will be a lot of newborn deer around.
"If you see a fawn that appears to be injured or abandoned please don't pick it up unless it's in mortal danger.
"If you think there may be a problem please contact WAF and we will deal with it."
WAF, based at Randalls Road, Leatherhead, deals with over 20,000 wildlife incidents every year.
It has a fully equipped veterinary hospital and is open '24/7' for wildlife emergencies. For more information, go to www.wildlifeaid.org.uk.
