Swan discovery woman's delay fear

Dan Young and Tina Briscoe found and reported the bird

The woman who spotted a dead swan which has tested positive for bird flu has spoken of her concern at a lack of urgency shown by the authorities.

Tina Briscoe, 68, who works at St Andrew's University, spotted the dead bird at Cellardyke harbour in Fife.

She reported last Wednesday's discovery along with Cellardyke resident Dan Young, 45, who described the bird as "a mangled heap of feathers".

Both expressed surprise at a 12-hour delay in the removal of the bird.

But Chief Veterinary Officer Charles Milne has defended the time it took to confirm bird flu infection.

He said: "The procedures were followed fully and the timeline could not have been tighter."

'Pretty mangled'

Mrs Briscoe said that when she contacted police, she was told to contact an animal welfare charity.

"They said if it was a heron it would be all right, as it might have died of natural causes, but if it was a swan it needed to be reported to Defra or a local vet," Mrs Briscoe said.

The St Andrews University technician added that the dead bird looked brown and "pretty mangled".

It had obviously been pecked at or eaten by something. It was torn open Dan Young Cellardyke resident

"It was reported in the evening to Defra and they collected the bird around lunchtime the following day," she said.

"I would have expected a quicker reaction, particularly because in the tidal water it could have been washed away, or cats could have picked on it."

Dan Young said he had been alerted by a friend, who said he thought a heron was lying in the harbour.

The 45-year-old said: "I went and had a look and it was obviously not a heron.

"It looked to me like a swan.

"I contacted Defra and within an hour the duty vet got back to me asking where it was and saying they would pick it up."

'Bit of anxiety'

Mr Young added: "It had obviously been dead for a while, a few days probably. It looked like a mangled heap of feathers and it had been in the water for a while.

"It had obviously been pecked at or eaten by something. It was torn open."

Asked if he suspected immediately that the swan could be a victim of bird flu, he added: "Obviously it's at the back of everybody's mind at the moment."

Mr Young said he had not physically touched the bird but admitted he had "a bit of anxiety" about the discovery.