Police appeal after geese killed outside Andover College

Officers were flagged down on Charlton Road on the evening of Thursday, July 1, by a “distressed” member of the public who had found five Canada geese in the road.

Police suspect that the birds had been struck by a car before the suspect left the scene, with four left dead and one seriously injured, while another escaped with light injuries. It is not yet known whether the act was intentional or accidental.

In a statement, officers said: “The person(s) who hit the geese made off without moving or helping the injured animals. With the kind help of the member of public we moved the injured Geese off of the road.

“We know many residents in Andover love the Canada geese that have decided to make Andover their home and this will come as a shock to them.

“If anyone has seen or knows anything about this incident please call 101 and leave a message for PCSO 16281 or PCSO 18319.”

Videos on social media in recent weeks have seen large flocks of Canada Geese around Andover College. This follows the breeding season of the geese, which takes place between March and June.

With each female goose producing a brood of five to six eggs in a season, this sees rises in the population of these birds, which in the UK mostly do not migrate after having been introduced as an ornamental species in the 1600s.

Sadly, injured animals are not uncommon in and around Andover, with birds having suffered particularly. Back in September, residents were shocked after a number of cygnets died at Anton Lakes after colliding with overhead power lines, with initial rumours that they had been shot.

Meanwhile, intentional cruelty to animals has also taken place, with a duck in Whitchurch saved by local charity Swan Support after a crossbow bolt missed its vital organs by millimetres.

The news follows a report from the RSPCA that reveals Hampshire had the tenth highest number of calls made to them for intentional animal cruelty over the past five years.