A birdwatcher named Ian Ellis attempted to view some birds, thought he saw a puppy in distress, but then ended up rescuing a different animal altogether. He had quite the afternoon, in other words.
Ellis contacted the “Skegness Natureland Seal Sanctuary” after witnessing something strange through his telescope on the RSPB Reserve at Frampton Marshes. A herd of about 30 cows were surrounding what appeared to be an abandoned puppy dog.
It wasn’t a dog, however.
What is that herd of cows responding to?
From his telescope, Ellis saw a small creature submerged in some marshy soil. The cows all seemed to be looking on anxiously at the little animal but didn’t know how to help them.
As time was considered to be of the essence, the sanctuary workers that Ellis called gave him instructions on how to retrieve the animal.
He would have to navigate around the herd of cows.
That’s not a puppy dog.
The 67-year-old animal lover set out to rescue what he had first believed to be a dog in distress. When he got to the area and had a better look, however, he realized the animal was not a dog at all.
The small creature that attracted a herd of cows was actually an abandoned seal pup.
Ellis continued to follow the advice given to him by the sanctuary workers on the phone and was able to successfully transport the seal pup to safety.
Birdwatcher rescues Celebration the seal pup.
By the time Ellis was able to get the baby seal pup to the sanctuary hospital, it was not doing too well. The pup, who would later be named Celebration, was dehydrated and lethargic.
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Staff at the sanctuary speculated that the pup was probably only 5 days old and likely had been orphaned. The sanctuary’s veterinarian figures that Celebration had gotten caught up in a high tide and swept into the marshland.
Celebration gets the treatment she needs.
This must have been a truly frightening experience for the seal pup. Imagine you are just 5 days into your existence and you have no parents to help, no idea what to do and everything is scary. Thankfully, a kind-hearted animal-loving birdwatcher named Ian Ellis was able to rescue her and give her a chance at life.
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Celebration was put on hydrating fluids and monitored until her health began to improve. She has also been put on anti-biotic treatment for some respiratory issues but is expected to make a full recovery.
Celebration even has some other seal pups in the sanctuary she has gotten to play with.
She is too young to be able to feed on her own in the water, so she’s not able to be released back into the wild yet.
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Everyone loves Celebration.
Reports of Ian Ellis’ rescue of Celebration have gone viral online. A video posted to YouTube about Celebration’s story has been viewed over 480,000 times. Many viewers felt compelled to leave a comment about the story as well.
“She is so precious,” wrote another.
Learn more about Celebration’s rescue in the video below!
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