Hedgehog dies after arriving with severe injuries and blue substance

An adult male hedgehog died the morning after arriving at Castleford Hedgehog Rescue with severe injuries and a blue substance on its back, the rescue operator said. Beth Campsill suspects the animal had been sprayed with paint, but the substance and the cause of death have not been independently established. A farmer found the hedgehog in a field behind Wakefield Police Station in West Yorkshire. It was taken to the rescue centre at around 4 p.m. on October 27 and died the following morning, according to Campsill, who runs the centre. Campsill said the animal had severe burns across its back, with damaged or missing spines. She said the substance’s thick texture and the damage led her to believe it was spray paint. Some people who saw her account online suggested it might instead have been an antiseptic spray used on livestock. The rescue operator said the hedgehog was in pain when it arrived and that she gave it pain relief. She described the case as the worst spray-paint-related injury she had encountered during 16 years of helping hedgehogs. Campsill said an infection from the burns may have caused the animal’s death, with poisoning another possibility. The hedgehog was...