Attempted duck poisoning
Palm Bay, FL (US)Incident Date: Friday, Sep 30, 2005
County: Brevard
Disposition: Alleged
Alleged: Donald Gerald Lauer
Case Updates: 1 update(s) available
A Palm Bay man who hired a trapper to remove Muscovy ducks from his yard was charged with cruelty to animals, accused of leaving anti-freeze where the ducks could get it.
Don Lauer was charged by Brevard County Animal Services and Enforcement on Tuesday, Oct 16. Neighbors on Daytona Drive have disagreed about whether the ducks are charming or should be removed as nuisances.
Lauer hired a trapper to capture and remove a dozen of the ducks from his yard, moving them to a Merritt Island farm, which is legal.
He said he'll fight the charge connected to the antifreeze, which is poisonous.
"I shoo them away," Lauer said. He said he has open antifreeze under a shelf on his patio, but doubts it was accessible to the ducks. "I'm going to fight it," he said.
He said he has also caught two ducks on his property with a net, and put them into garbage cans with lids askew so they wouldn't escape.
But he said he immediately called the trapper, who picked up one bird within an hour, and he released a second himself.
His neighbor across the road, Katherine McCoy, had been feeding the ducks on her property but agreed to stop as an experiment to see whether the ducks continue to cross the road away from their canal habitat.
"The ducks have stopped coming onto my property," Lauer said.
Another neighbor contacted animal control after seeing two ducks in Lauer's garbage cans.
"There's ways to deal with this, and that isn't one of them," the neighbor said. She said part of the charm of living on the canal is the wildlife, including the ducks.
Bob Brown, outreach officer for Brevard Animal Services, said the charge against Lauer is part of a continuing investigation. "The antifreeze was obvious and overt and an immediate hazard," he said.
Brown said it is legal to catch nuisance animals, including Muscovy ducks, on your own property, even with a net.
"But they have to be treated humanely until they are transferred to another agency," he said. "They have to follow Florida guidelines."
If convicted, Lauer could face a $200 fine for a first offense.
Case UpdatesA Palm Bay man accused of leaving out antifreeze to get rid of nuisance Muscovy ducks from his property was found not guilty of the animal cruelty charge.
County Court Judge Rhonda Babb acquitted Don Lauer of the charge filed by Brevard County Animal Services and Enforcement. For months, neighbors in the Daytona Drive area near Turkey Creek have disagreed about the charm or harm of the non-native ducks.
"Animal control failed in its burden of proof, and the case was dismissed after a hearing" on Monday, said Lauer's attorney, Allen Diamond of Melbourne. He said there was no proof that any birds ingested antifreeze or that any birds were harmed or killed by Lauer. Lauer admitted to hiring a trapper to remove the ducks from his yard and to shooing the birds, but said his intention wasn't to harm the animals with antifreeze in his carport. "I feel I was vindicated. My daughter has a small dog, and I wouldn't intentionally leave antifreeze where he could get it," he said.
Lauer said the problem of birds crossing his property from the canal across Daytona Drive to his neighbor's yard, leaving droppings along the way, disappeared since neighbor Katherine McCoy stopped feeding the ducks in her yard. "That absolutely stopped the problem," Lauer said. McCoy, who testified against Lauer at the hearing, could not be reached for comment.
Lauer said he's happy to have no record. He said it cost him about $1,500 in legal fees. "I haven't slept for a month. The only ticket I've ever gotten in my whole life was for not stopping completely for a stop sign 25 years ago in Michigan," he said. | Source: Florida Today - December 15, 2005
Update posted on Dec 16, 2005 - 12:06PM |
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