“No animal welfare issues were found” during Whisby Garden Centre inspection
Some visitors and former employees remain concerned
A former employee said a lamb (left) had to have its eye removed after suffering what she believe was neglect, while a visitor to the centre was unhappy at the condition of the goats, including a limping kid (right).
Lincolnshire Trading Standards said “no animal welfare issues were found” during a recent inspection at Whisby Garden Centre, amid growing concerns from some visitors and former employees.
Bryony Finch worked at Whisby Garden Centre for less than a month in June last year before claiming she was dismissed for not having enough experience. She voiced concerns about the welfare of animals at the park on social media, and responses mounted of experiences and alleged neglect.
It’s not the first time local people have questioned the health of animals at the park, but owners continue to argue the animals in their care have a “clean bill of health” and claimed “we are not under investigation by anybody”.
The day after our story was published, the centre said it received an unannounced visit from Trading Standards and APHA (Animal and Plant Health Agency).
Lincolnshire Trading Standards said it attended Whisby Garden Centre with APHA and a vet on Friday, February 11, at Apha’s request, and no animal welfare issues were found. APHA said it doesn’t comment on the progression of individual cases.
In a social media post the centre said: “All of our animals and birds were checked and they have no concerns with any welfare issues.”
Bryony felt that other animals at the centre were also in a poor condition.
Bryony with Xena the lamb.
Former employee Bryony is also in the process of launching a petition to get animal welfare law amended.
She previously told The Lincolnite: “I would like to say that I feel let down by the large animal welfare organisations. I spent so much time getting Xena (the lamb) into good health and the other animals.
“I spent a lot of time reporting Whisby and speaking to APHA in the hopes something would change and it hasn’t. I am going to be petitioning for a new law shortly that would stop something like this happening again.”
A recent visitor to the centre Tammy Faulkner said she saw a number of goats in desperate need of medical attention and foot care last month, and when she returned again a week later she claimed there had been no improvement.
She said she owns her own goats so understands their behaviour and how they need looked after. She said she spoke to staff at the centre to air her concerns and told them she would return a week later before reporting the matter to the RSPCA.
In a further social media post on Sunday, February 13 the centre said: “We are happy to report the goats at Whisby Garden Centre are much improved.”
Mark Keal, Lincolnshire Trading Standards manager, previously said: “We take reports of animal health concerns very seriously, and if anyone is worried about the welfare of farmed animals, they can report this to us through the Citizens Advice consumer service. Visit citizensadvice.org.uk/consumer or call 0808 2231133.
“When we receive complaints – depending on the nature and severity of the report – we can inspect the premises, arrange vet visits, provide advice, work with the business to improve practices, or even remove animals in extreme circumstances. Your reports help us to keep animals safe in Lincolnshire.”
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Nominations are open for schools and education settings to be recognised in the 2022 Lincolnshire Education Excellence Awards.
The event is organised by Stonebow Media, publishers of The Lincolnite, to celebrate the best school and teachers in Greater Lincolnshire.
The headline sponsors making the awards possible are Lincoln College Group.
Twelve categories are now open for nominations. The deadline for nominations is June 3, with a judging lunch scheduled for June 7.
Nominations are open from parents, carers, friends, families or education settings themselves, so if you know someone who deserving of winning now is the time to vote!
The awards ceremony will be held at the Engine Shed on July 7.
It’s been a week since the controversial statue of Margaret Thatcher was installed in Grantham’s St Peter’s Hill.
The £300,000 bronze monument immediately caused a stir and debate from both supporters and opponents of the first female Prime Minister of the UK.
Within hours of its 7am installation last Sunday, it had already been egged by a man later revealed to be 59-year-old Jeremy Webster, a deputy director at the Attenborough Arts Centre at the University of Leicester.
Mr Webster’s mother-in-law recently described his actions as “childish”.
Quoted in the MailOnline she said: “Margaret Thatcher lasted a long time in power. She was a trailblazer as the first woman prime minister and she had such energy, even though I know she slept very little.
“I’m very surprised to hear about all of this [egg throwing]. I’m going to have to call my daughter. I wouldn’t have thought Jeremy would be the sort of person to do this. It seems very childish to me – he has a responsible job.”
There have been reports of other antisocial behaviour taking place including people urinating up the statue, but investigations into these are yet to be confirmed by officials.
Away from the statue itself, others took to social media to react to the new monument.
Twitterer @BolsoverBeast thought Mr Webster’s actions should be expanded as a way to… get more people involved?
I think it would be a good idea to put Thatcher’s statue on a low loader and tow it slowly around the country so that we all have a chance to throw something at it. pic.twitter.com/uftMqr0LgR
— Chloe Schlosberg (@ChloeSchlosberg) May 19, 2022
Some called back to the fate of other statues
@Irritatedllama called back to the fate of slave trader Edward Colston who was thrown into the Bristol Harby in June 2020.
It's absolutely disgraceful that people are throwing eggs at the Margaret Thatcher statue in Grantham! We need to deploy a taskforce to give it jolly good wash!#Granthampic.twitter.com/RKftKUls4u
It wasn’t long before a parody account of the statue was set up on Twitter – nor before “she” was interacting with other parody accounts.
It was awful. I could see almost all of Grantham
— That Statue of Thatcher (@thatcher_statue) May 18, 2022
A… positive view?
There were supporters of the statue, however, Darren Grimes from GBNews was one of the few popular posts calling on people not to “give in to threats of petty vandalism”. He later posted the statue should be in parliament – where it was previously rejected from.
I honestly think Margaret Thatcher would have found this first round of petty vandalism of her statue to be utterly hilarious.
The statue looks absolutely glorious.
Almost a decade on from her passing, she’s still winding them up!
Some, like @Jonnyhibberd were more measured in their response.
I don't see a problem with a Thatcher statue and I also don't see a problem with people throwing eggs at it. Thatcher is an important part of our history, and so is what a lot of people thought about her.
— Jonathan Hibberd 🇺🇦 (@Jonnyhibberd) May 18, 2022
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