Hedgehog found spray painted blue in Leeds dies
Two men and two teenagers have been questioned over alleged Animal Welfare offences
A hedgehog which was found spray painted blue in Leeds earlier this month has died in the care of an animal rescue.
Dubbed 'Honey', the female hedgehog was rescued earlier this month in the Yeadon area after being found covered in a non-water-based paint.
Vets at Prickly Pigs Hedgehog Rescue say the animal couldn't curl up properly and had breathing difficulties because of the hard to remove paint.
In a statment, the rescue said: "To say that I’m devastated is an understatement and I just cannot believe, or understand, what some people are capable of doing to any living thing."
"I know from some comments that people have found what happened to her as funny or commented that she’s ’only a hedgehog’ but it does not matter if this was done to hedgehog or cat or a dog or any other animal, it just should not have happen FULL STOP. It is CRUEL and a completely UNNECESSARY death."
Four people have been arrested, questioned and bailed over what happened to the animal.
Two teenage boys aged 15 and 17 and two men aged 21 and 44 were detained on suspicion of offences under the Animal Welfare Act 2006.