ONE swan has died and another has been left with severe injuries after they were shot with an airgun.

The RSPCA launched an appeal for information after the 'callous attack' in Clayton-le-Moors at around 9am on Thursday.

A male swan died after suffering a puncture wound to his head and the female swan was left with two wounds and bleeding from her neck.

Two 'majestic' swans shot on canal with an air rifle

RSPCA inspector Katherine Newman collected them from the Leeds and Liverpool canal in Chequers after a passer-by spotted the swans were injured.

She said: “This was clearly a purposeful and callous attack on two swans.

“An x-ray at the vets revealed a pellet lodged inside the head cavity of the male swan and two in the neck of the female, both on their left side.

"The female is now receiving emergency treatment before she will be transferred to RSPCA Stapeley Grange Wildlife Centre in the hope that if she recovers she can later be released back into the wild."

The male swan had already died when the RSPCA had arrived but the female swan was still mobile.

The RSPCA has been calling for stricter regulations around owning airguns as well as better education and explanation of the law for those buying an airgun.

Janet O'Loughlin from Clayton-le-Moors was one of those who reported the incident to the RSPCA and she said the attack was 'sickening'.

She said: "My husband had just been out walking the dogs when he saw the swans, then I rang the RSPCA about it.

"I was devastated when I found out.

"Those swans had been in that canal for years swimming the same stretch of it each day.

"They were helpless, they were just getting on with their life swimming in the canal.

"It sickens me.

"I'm not for guns at all, I don't think people should be allowed to have them, whatever their age."

The latest attack on two swans comes after 4,828 airgun incidents reported to the RSPCA between 1 January 2012 and 30 June 2017.

In Lancashire, 168 airgun incidents were reported to the RSPCA in the same period of time, nine of those occurring in the first six months of 2017.

Inspector Newman said last year the RSPCA received 890 calls to its 24-hour cruelty hotline and this year look set to top that and reach a five-year high.

Earlier this year the government pledged to review the regulations of air weapon licensing.

Anyone with any information in regards to the incident should call the RSPCA in confidence on 0300 123 8018.