There's a huge controversy around whether or not it's safe to be feeding bread to the swans and ducks. The traditional pastime we're all familiar with is being questioned by Pet's Choice, who started a campaign to educate people about the dangers of bread-feeding these animals.
The pet food brand WildThings teamed up with a rescue charity, Swan Lifeline to keep bread away from all ponds and lakes. The ‘Ban the Bread’ campaign was developed to encourage the public to look after their local wildlife responsibly and educate them on healthier alternatives available. And it's a pastime that stretches back into the decades, but the food brand argues that white bread especially is beginning to cause a lot of problems for these aquatic birds and their environments.
“Ban the Bread is an important campaign to educate the public and one that we are proud to put our name to.We are delighted to be teaming up with Swan Lifeline, whose volunteers carry out excellent and vital work. They see at first hand the problems that feeding bread creates. It is understandable that many people are unaware of the harm their trip to the duck pond can do to the wildlife and environment. The aim of Ban the Bread is to give them the right information to make an informed choice and then to pass those lessons on to their kids.” - Tony Raeburn, CEO of Pets Choice
However, The Swan Sanctuary in Shepperton has their own response to this campaign. Pets Choice encourages the public to instead give wildfowl frozen peas and even rice. But, it seems, that now that the public has been dissuaded from giving bread to swans and ducks, that they have now stopped feeding them altogether.
According to the Swan Sanctuary, the majority of juvenile swans are now underweight and this has been attributed to a decline in feeding. They say, "Bread has been fed, in moderation, for hundreds of years with no evidence of ill effect - it is only a very recent, albeit false perception that bread is harmful to waterfowl."
Throughout the summer, East Mosely residents living next to the Ember have had to battle with violent swans who won't let people near the riverside. It was thought that the birds were guarding their eggs - but perhaps they are just hungry...
"We strongly disagree with the idea that the campaign will improve the health of swans and other waterflowl" - The Swan Sanctuary website
Following comments and feedback received, Pets Choice took the decision to change the campaign to ‘Better than Bread’ back in July and are no longer promoting the ‘Ban the Bread’ message.
