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RSPCA set to investigate after angler's discoveries

An angling club official is waiting for a response from the RSPCA, after reporting the find of four swans' heads in Buckinghamshire.

Steaven Cooper filed his report today, after finding four heads close to Mount Farm Lake, Milton Keynes, during the last three weeks.

A spokesman for the RSPCA said in most instances, the deaths would've been caused by animals, but this could not be established without further investigation.

As he says he has contacted us, I am sure we will get back to him. It is something we would certainly look into. In the majority of such cases, it is down to animal kill, but we do not know in this case until we have looked into it.

– RSPCA spokesman
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Four severed swans' heads found

Angler believes birds were killed for food

A member of an angling club in Buckinghamshire has asked the RSPCA to investigate, after finding the severed heads of four swans.

Steaven Cooper, fisheries officer and secretary of the Beacon Angling Club, said he found the heads close to Mount Farm Lake in Milton Keynes.

He only found a swan's head and body in one instance and said he thought they might have been killed for food.

We have found four heads, and only one of them had the body close by it. That was near the Inn on the Lake pub, so the person may have been disturbed while doing it. As fisheries officer, I found them all, with bailiffs on the lake, over the last three weeks. I have tended to find them early in the morning. There is an area of the lake that is currently out of bounds for fishing, and I have found them in that area, which is quiet. The swans are friendly, and an easy target. I'm beginning to think that people are doing it for food.

– Steaven Cooper

He said it looked as if the birds' heads had been taken off by a sharp blade and he didn't think they had been killed by an animal. He said police had told him to contact the the RSPCA. Police had no information on the matter.

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Four severed swans' heads found