Hedgehog nearly dies after yobs paint her blue and yellow in Leeds United colours

A poor hedgehog has been left with ‘severe breathing problems’ after yobs painted her in the colours of a Premier League football club.

The adult female was found in a woman’s back garden in Yeadon, in Leeds, West Yorkshire, covered in blue and yellow paint, apparently to resemble the Leeds United team colours – or to look like Sonic the Hedgehog.

Struggling to breathe due to the fumes, the spiny mammal was unable to ‘curl up’ into a ball.

It’s believed she also potentially tried to lick off the paint, resulting in her ingesting other toxins.

Staff at Prickly Pigs Hedgehog Rescue, based in Otley, also in Leeds, took her in and cleaned her up, a process that involved scrubbing the oil-based paint from each spine individually and administering pain relief.

Diane Cook, 51, who owns the rescue shelter, said whether it is football-related or not, the person’s actions were ‘absolutely appalling’ and ‘disgusting’.

‘It might seem funny painting a hedgehog blue like Sonic, but it’s an unbelievably stupid thing to do,’ she raged.

‘We know it was done deliberately, and she’s not just brushed against wet paint or fallen in some paint because she’s completely covered except for the front of her face, tummy and legs.

‘This is absolutely disgusting behaviour to happen to any animal, never mind a creature that in our country is on the Red List and classed as vulnerable to extinction.’

She added that ‘it would have taken some time to do as well, as it wasn’t a quick spray paint’.

‘If the lady had not found her, I honestly don’t think she would have survived, to be honest.’

According to Diane, if left unfound, the creature could easily have ‘been killed’ due to restricted movement, as when threatened, a hedgehog raises its quills upright, making its body pointy and sharp, and uses its muscles to curl into a tight ball, protecting its soft belly.

Therefore, the painted hedgehog had no way of defending herself against predators.

Even worse, she could have slowly starved to death or succumbed to malnutrition.

Diane – who runs the shelter from her converted garage – said the paint was ‘so thick and tough it had glued her spines together’.

The animal lover also said the paint was similar to emulsion used for decorating or even one used for marking road surfaces.

Once the hedgehog is paint-free, she will be microchipped and released back into the garden where she was found.

‘She’s in the best place, and we’re doing everything that we can, and we won’t stop doing everything we can,’ Diane said.

A spokesperson for West Yorkshire Police shared: ‘Unfortunately, someone in the LS19 area of Leeds has sprayed a hedgehog blue.

‘This has caused unnecessary suffering to the animal, and it is being treated by rescue.

‘If anyone has any information about the incident, please call 101 and quote the crime number 13260401913.’

Hedgehogs are in decline in Britain and are now listed as ‘vulnerable’ on Britain’s red list of mammals.

According to the latest State of Britain’s hedgehogs report, numbers of hedgehogs have fallen by up to 30% in urban areas and 50% in rural areas since the turn of the century.

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