A troublingly regular series in which we highlight an important social issue that the mainstream media won't touch: the plight of London's increasingly neglected toy animals
Yeah, yeah, Toy Story 3 is a proper tear-jerker. But have you noticed the real tragedy unfolding on the streets of London? Untold numbers of cuddly toy animals are abandoned each week in our supposedly inclusive city. No species is immune. Londonist is the only web site to take their plight seriously.
We start this week with a forlorn equid, poised precariously on the edge of the canal. Seb Brennan of Kentish Town picks up the story:
I saw this poor, lost soul the other day - spurned by his owner, Rocking Pony has clearly decided to end it all in the murky waters of the Regent's Canal. He seems to have some sort of hearing aid as well - perhaps his horse whispering owner got tired of having to shout.
Andrew Barnett, meanwhile, has located a nexus of fake-animal cruelty: Ball's Pond Road. "Its like a mass dumping ground," he says. "You find one and then another within a few foot steps." He sends us the second and third images, of an abandoned sheep-like thing and what appears to be a distressed chick newly hatched from its heliotrope shell. Some kind of mistimed Easter cull?
Our next image was taken by Londonist contributor Suke Driver.
I arrived just in time to save this Leopard from a Victoria Park squirrel today. I dread to think how it would have ended. Maybe the leopard escaped back into the wild rather than being lost or abandoned?
Suke is clearly a glass-half-full lady. What she doesn't realise is that toy leopard baiting is a popular pastime in the East End. Dog fights and cockpit duels may have been outlawed, but we have yet to see legislation forbidding the vicious practice of setting squirrels onto helpless toy cats.
Finally, Pete Stean of the excellent The Londoneer sends us this sorrowful image of a destitute monkian. The caption was his own work, but the sentiment is real:
Because I live in a block we have those massive bins, and for some reason they didn't pick them up on the right day this week. When that happens all kinds of crap tends to find its way into them because they're pushed out onto the street to wait for the vans - this little fella was sitting on top of a box. Perhaps he really was waiting for me to come home... ?
Keep your eyes (and cameras) peeled for more examples, folks, and send images to [email protected].
