Wild duck painted, duct taped
Albany, OR (US)Incident Date: Thursday, Dec 3, 2009
County: Linn
Disposition: Open
Suspect(s) Unknown - We need your help!
Police were notified when a wild duck had been painted orange and duct-taped.
A woman came upon the duck near the service center building at Linn-Benton Community College.
She was able to coax it into a box. She called police at 3:40 p.m. Thursday.
An officer responded and took the duck to Chintimini Wildlife Rehabilitation Center at Lewisburg for treatment.
"Without proper care, the duck would have died," said Detective Sgt. Brad Liles of the Albany Police Department. "That was unacceptable behavior by any standard."
Liles said the painting and duct-taping treatment would be considered animal abuse, defined as "recklessly causing physical injury to an animal."
Paint could kill an animal, and removing the duct tape could result in many of a duck's feathers being pulled out.
If there was any torture involved, Liles said, the charge could be first-degree aggregated animal abuse, which is a felony.
As of this morning, the duck was OK, the wildlife rehab center said. But it will have to be kept until the next time it molts, probably for another year, a staff member said.
The nonprofit center gets no government support and is funded by donations. References |
