Capel Manor College’s Statement on Gunnersbury Park Incident
On Sunday 25 February, Capel Manor College’s Gunnersbury Park Campus experienced a break-in that resulted in damage to some of the animal areas, and sadly some animals died.
The safety of our staff, students, animals and community is of utmost importance to us. A team is onsite coordinating with the police in their ongoing investigation, and additional security staff have also been deployed at the campus.
Officers investigating the case urge witnesses to call 101, quoting the reference CAD1639/25Feb.
Teaching at Gunnersbury Park was held online on Monday 26 February, and as of Tuesday 27 February in-person teaching has resumed on site. Support is available for our staff and students who have been affected by this unfortunate incident.
Our Gunnersbury Park Campus is one of our five campuses around London, offering full and part-time courses for school leavers and adults interested in animals, plants and the environment.
Our Gunnersbury Park Campus has a friendly and community-driven atmosphere, one where our students have access to the highest quality of staff and technical support, as well as to the practical facilities within the College’s walled garden. By permission of the London Boroughs of Hounslow and Ealing we also have working access to parts of Gunnersbury Park itself.
Peter Brammall, Capel Manor College’s Principal said, “This has been a terrible episode and my thanks go out to the dedicated team of staff who worked tirelessly over Sunday and Monday to deal with, and restore the devastation left by the intruders. Our campus is now back open, student lessons are back on track and the team are working with our partners to bring in new animals over the next few weeks to replace those that were sadly lost.”
As a result of the break-in, the College’s much-loved barn owl Shiraz escaped and has been missing since Sunday 25 February. We believe she will still be in the local area and would greatly appreciate any information on her whereabouts.
Shiraz is a white barn owl with a blue ring on her left ankle. If you see her please do not approach her, but call the College’s emergency 24-hour line on 07713 568 110 and call the RSPCA between 7am to 10pm on 0300 1234 999 to report the sighting.
