A pair of East Lothian buddies have successfully raised a Canadian goose to adulthood after being injured following a cat attack.
Declan Longmuir, 16, and Keiron Rattray, 19, discovered that the goose chick, which they named Pip, had injured themselves in May of this year while on a walk in Musselburgh.
The couple were unable to obtain care for the injured infant with SSPCA because the animal was classified as a foreign bird and could not be rescued.
But Keiron, who volunteered with the SSPCA, always had a soft spot for animals in need and that’s why the couple agreed to take care of the bird and bring it back to health.
“We called wherever we could think of to pick her up and raise her. But since it is a Canadian goose, the SSPCA refused to hire it because it is a foreign bird that they do not deal with.
“So we took on the difficult task of being his mother and raising him ourselves. Keiron volunteered for the SSPCA and hated seeing an endangered animal, so me and Kieron took it upon ourselves to be his new mother.
“Caring for Pip was a bit of a challenge as she was so messy and needed constant attention, if you ever let her she would honk the house.
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“The biggest challenge was keeping Pip alive, making sure she was locked up every night so the foxes didn’t catch her, and feeding her twice a day.
“After six long months, we were finally able to release her into the Esk River where she belongs.
“We messaged the East Lothian Animal Rescue and they just gave us some advice on how to free her and told us it wouldn’t be easy because she was so attached to us.
“I hope this article can make people aware that she was a hand raised goose and is very used to humans and has a tendency to follow people. So if she follows you from the river, please guide her or send a message to Keiron Rattray or myself and we will come guide her.
“It has a yellow label, so it’s identifiable. And if you exceed it, please send us a photo.
“Travel aficionado. Twitter scholar. Writer. Extreme coffee guru. Evil pop culture fanatic.”