Duck had ‘feet cut off’ at NC park where others used for target practice, group says
Dozens of ducks and geese were removed from a North Carolina park after one bird had its “feet cut off,” a group said.
Ducks were also “used for target practice,” and another was beaten at Martin Luther King Jr. Park in Statesville, roughly 40 miles north of Charlotte, the Carolina Waterfowl Rescue organization said earlier this month.
After receiving reports of abuse, the nonprofit said in a Facebook post, it sprang into action on July 9.
The group took 43 birds from the park in hopes of keeping them safe, a representative told McClatchy News in an email.
At the time, Carolina Waterfowl Rescue said the saved birds would go through health screenings and “be available for adoption.”
“We are very grateful for the efforts of the Carolina Waterfowl Rescue,” Richard Griggs, recreation and parks director for Statesville, said in a news release. “We have been concerned about the reports of abuse to the birds in the park but have been unable to catch any of the injured ones on our own.”
At the park, the city said it was only aware of a “duck with fishing line wrapped around its bill.” Fishing is allowed four days a week in the area, which has a lake that draws both wild and domesticated birds, according to officials.
No one reported animal abuse to Statesville police or the city’s parks department, public affairs director Nancy Davis told McClatchy News in an email Monday.
“The City has not received any information to use in following up with the reports that have been made to the CWF,” Davis wrote.
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