COUNTY NEWS: Sussex donor offers £250,000 to catch goose killers

The reward offer comes after a much-loved goose, from the village of Sandon in Hertfordshire, was shot dead last week - sparking a national outcry.

Jeremy Vine discussed the case on his BBC Radio Two show on Saturday, when a Mr Peter Hunt from Eastbourne offered the quarter of a million pounds reward through a text message.

In his text Mr Hunt said, “I would like to offer a £250,000 reward to whoever catches the vile killers of this goose, so long as it leads to a conviction. This incident makes me sick.”

Shortly afterwards a caller, John Barker from Cambridge, offered to add a further £25,000 to the reward – taking the total to £275,000.

Mr Barker said, “If they hand themselves in I will write the cheque and give it to them in person.”

But it seems as if the reward may be too good to be true as no further details about the donors have come to light following the show.

The goose – which had lived in a village pond for more than 11-years – was found dead on Sunday, February 21.

Hertfordshire Police has launched a joint investigation alongside the RSPCA into the animal’s death.

Police say they will conduct a post mortem later this week to determine how the bird was killed.

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