Attempting to beat a goose with baseball bat
Danville, NH (US)Incident Date: Wednesday, Jun 18, 2003
County: Rockingham
Disposition: Alleged
Alleged: Andrew Dube
An unsuccessful attempt to allegedly club a resident's pet goose with an aluminum bat could lighten a Danville teenager's wallet by $1,200. Andrew Dube, 17, of 6 Hemlock Drive in Danville, was arrested June 18 at approximately 5 p.m., nearly an hour after he allegedly chased a goose with a baseball bat by the Cotton Farm Mobile Home Park on Cotton Farm Road, according to Danville Police Lt. Leo Beauchamp and Danville Animal Control Officer Denise Laratonda.
"Thank God he didn't make contact," Laratonda said. "We want people to know we are going to prosecute."
Dube was charged with a Class B misdemeanor, animal cruelty, a violation that carries the threat of a $2,000 fine and a year in jail. Beauchamp, the prosecuting officer for this case, is asking for a $1,200 fine and no jail term.
"He was with some other kids, and the goose was pretty much minding his own business when he exited the vehicle of his own accord and went after the goose with the bat," Beauchamp said.
According to Beauchamp, five or six eyewitnesses called the Danville Police Department to report Dube's actions. Approximately an hour later, police pulled Dube's vehicle over and arrested him. The baseball bat, Beauchamp said, was in plain view in the back seat of the car.
The goose Dube allegedly tried to hit belonged to a resident who lives on Christian Road. About 25 other geese frequent the Cotton Farm pond where the incident allegedly occurred, according to Laratonda.
Beauchamp said the fact that this was a domesticated goose did not affect the charges.
Even though the goose is fine, Dube's alleged attempt to harm the animal is enough to charge him with animal cruelty, Beauchamp said.
"A person can prepare to commit a crime, but once they go beyond preparation, they've perpetrated it," Beauchamp said, offering an example of a person plotting to rob a bank.
The would-be bank robber can plan the heist, Beauchamp said, but once the robber walks into the bank with a gun, he or she has perpetrated the act, even before actually attempting to take the money.
"It's good for the goose that (Dube) didn't hit him, but the defendant perpetrated the act by trying to hit the goose," Beauchamp said.
Geese have long been an issue in Danville, ranging from problems at Cotton Farm Mobile Home Park and Iron Wheel Senior Citizen Park including geese defecating and previous instances of animal cruelty.
According to Laratonda, four geese were purposefully run down by automobiles last year.
"It's awful. It's terrible," Laratonda said, saying that it's unfair for people to get mad at geese for defecating.
"They build the pond, and they don't want geese to come," she said. "Build it and they will come. Then you have the people in the park that love the geese and feed them, so the geese don't know what to think. Is this a safe place or not?"
Beauchamp said he believes most of the geese killings were childish pranks rather than residents lashing out at geese for "pooping" on their land.
"Any reasonable, prudent person would not run down a goose," Beauchamp said. "There have been problems in the past. We've been pro-enforcement on animal abuse in Danville, and we've had quite a bit of it in the past."
References« NH State Animal Cruelty Map
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