We’re sure many of you will remember the horrific dog attack on the seal known as ‘Freddie Mercury’ at Richmond, London, last month that reached national headlines. In the background we have been working to help raise an Early Day Motion for Parliament to help better protect seals in the Thames and other rivers, and we need your support to get it off the ground by getting as many MPs to sign up to it as we can. Huge thanks to BDMLR Medic Mary Tester and colleagues, and our contacts in Defra for their efforts in getting to this point where seal protection is high on the legislative agenda.
Please consider writing to your MP asking them to support Early Day Motion 1707 in parliament https://edm.parliament.uk/early-day-motion/58352
Possible wording below:
We hope you are well now lockdown is easing. The UK’s natural spaces and habitats are a huge asset to our country and have become even more important to us all during Covid. Accessing the countryside, parks, rivers and the coast has been a vital support to all our wellbeing and mental health.
I am sure you will have heard about the tragic encounter by a dog with a resting young seal called Freddie Mercury on the Thames recently. After the encounter, Freddie had to be euthanised on the advice of multiple vets as his fore flipper was so badly damaged.
An Early Day Motion has been created to better protect our globally rare seals in rivers such as the Thames along similar lines to those of deer in Richmond Park. Please would you consider adding your signatory to support this motion. This motion’s primary sponsor is the conservative MP Tracey Crouch.