GARDAÍ ARE INVESTIGATING after a gruesome find at the gates of the Dingle Wildlife and Seal Sanctuary in Co. Kerry this morning.

At around 8.30am the heads of two seals were found nailed to plywood and then screwed onto the sign at the gate of the centre. Written on the signs were the messages “RIP CULL” and “RIP I AM HUNGRY”, written in red paint.

Ally McMillan from the sanctuary told TheJournal.ie that it would be inappropriate to speculate about the motives for what she called a “vicious horrible prank”. She said it is the first incident of its kind and the only other problems that staff from the centre have ever had is the “occasional taunt in the pub”.

McMillan said she was initially concerned for the safety of two seals currently resident in the sanctuary who are due to be released back into the wild in two weeks. However she said she has no idea where the bodies of the decapitated seals – a grey seal and a common seal – may have come from. She said they appeared to have been freshly killed.

Garda have removed the makeshift signs for analysis and hope to be able to find a match for the paint used.

The Dingle Wildlife and Seal Sanctuary opened in 2010 and is staffed by a team of volunteers, many of them from abroad. The centre is regularly home to duck, geese and swans and also rescues orphaned, wounded and starving seal pups.

WARNING: These images are extremely graphic in nature and may upset some readers…