A REWARD offered in exchange for information surrounding the shooting of two pregnant seals has grown as a charity considers deploying a crew to watch over the population.

Conservation charity Sea Shepherd UK had initially offered a £2,500 cash reward for information, photographs and video which leads to the prosecution of those responsible for shooting the animals.

This has now risen to £3,000 thanks to an anonymous benefactor

Tony Haggis offers tours of the Walton backwaters, where the two dead seals were found with gunshot wounds.

After finding the corpses, he said he suspected angler fishermen to be responsible.

But Terry Haggis, Tony’s brother and a commercial fisherman, said he found it “disturbing” to see the finger pointed at anglers.

He said: “In this case it is probably some idiot doing it for sport and nothing to do with commercial fisherman or anglers.

“Stop the accusations against fishermen and anglers and find the idiot with a high powered gun doing it for their own sport.

“I have been a fisherman 47 years and I do not agree with what has happened.

“My main point is people can’t go accusing people when there is no proof.

“I have had people on Facebook actually use our name.”

 

The seals are believed to have been shot by with a .22 calibre rifle or a similar firearm.

Sea Shepherd UK visited Walton to examine the body of one of the seals.

Both were around three months pregnant at the time of their deaths.

The charity said it would consider deploying a crew to watch over the seal population if more bodies are found.

Rob Read, chief operating officer of the charity, said: “Hopefully the publicity around the shooting of these seals will put a stop to it.

“However, if more seals are shot around the same area then Sea Shepherd UK will consider deploying crew to watch over the seals and catch those responsible.

“Sea Shepherd UK’s Eastern region co-ordinator and one of our senior volunteers has already been to Walton to gather evidence.”

Anyone with information can send photos or video evidence to report@seashepherduk.org.