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23rd July 2017
10:37am BST
Shocking abuse of wild hedgehogs was revealed by animal welfare charity Hedgehog Rescue Dublin, who posted the horrifying news to their Facebook page that hedgehogs were being kicked to death.
The incident happened in Clondalkin, Dublin, and The Irish Independent reports that a charity volunteer came across a gang of teenagers kicking the little hedgehogs "like footballs" in a park.
The volunteer left to get help, but unfortunately the animals were already dead.
The founder of Hedgehog Rescue Dublin told The Irish Independent that "We have a lot of hedgehogs coming into us that have been kicked around. That's unfortunately quite normal. Especially when people are drunk on the way home from the pub, they just kick them around like little footballs."
Dogs and slug pellets also pose a huge threat for hedgehog litters, and the charity is currently over capacity as to how many hedgehogs they are able to help.
People are encouraged to use organic slug pellets, egg shells or coffee grinds as a slug deterrent instead of poison, and anyone with information on the shocking attack is urged to report it to Ronanstown garda station at 01 666770.
