Danny Hyde was walking home from school past the Batchley ponds when he heard a squeaking sound. On closer inspection, he realised the animal had its leg trapped in the top of the can.
The 13-year-old Kingsley College pupil said: “I couldn’t leave it. Basically I put my foot in the water, put my arm on the duck and pushed its foot out of the can.
“It swam off and I put the can in the bin. It was going to die if I hadn’t done anything.”
His mother Karen told the Standard it showed the impact of people not throwing away their litter properly.
“It’s not very nice people are throwing their cans in the water and this shows the damage it can do.
“It didn’t surprise me that Danny did something like that. He is actually highly allergic to most animals but this is just what he’s like and the sort of thing he would do. We are very proud of him.”
Coun Debbie Taylor, responsible for the environment on Redditch Borough Council, said: “This young man deserves credit for his actions but he should never have been put in that position. The council has long campaigned and will continue to campaign on behalf of the community on why it’s important to simply use one of the many of bins all over Redditch, or take litter home.
“It’s so easy to dispose of litter properly and the risk to wildlife that we have seen here is one of the many reasons why we do not tolerate littering.”
(Redditch Standard - June 28, 2013)
