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Like 'em, hate 'em

Many folks in tiny Kenneth City see Muscovy ducks as a nuisance. But several defenders tell others to have a crumb of conscience.

By ANNE LINDBERG, Times Staff Writer
Published September 19, 2007

Muscovy ducks wander through the driveway and front yard of a home at 5731 53rd Ave. N in Kenneth City in May.
	[Dirk Shadd | Times]

To hear duck lovers tell it, Muscovies are public enemy No. 1 in Kenneth City, where residents kill and maim the feathered critters. Even the police may have joined the mayhem. Local duckophiles say one officer sprayed an innocent Muscovy with Mace. A new ordinance against feeding them on private property seemed like a slam-dunk until a few voices came to the ducks' defense last week.

Police are reviewing the charge against the unidentified officer, who reportedly sprayed a duck, but acting Chief Kevin Matson said he is unable to comment because the investigation is ongoing.

Anyway, he said, the duck could not have been Maced. Officers don't carry Mace. They pack oleoresin capsicum, commonly known as "OC."

"That's pepper spray," Matson said. "Nobody carries Mace anymore."

The allegations arose at last Wednesday's council meeting during a debate to decide whether the town should ban the feeding of wild birds and animals on private property. The town already forbids the feeding of wild creatures on public property.

The ordinance seemed like a sure thing until a group of residents protested. Paul Lyons described the group as representative of the "silent majority of Kenneth City residents who genuinely like, care about and enjoy the wildlife present in our community, including the Muscovy ducks."

Lyons objected to Mayor Muriel Whitman's criticism of the Muscovies in news articles, accusing her of displaying a "semiofficial disdain for the ducks (that has) created an atmosphere in Kenneth City where there is a tacit approval by our governing body and Police Department for the abuse of the animals."

Lyons told of several such incidents, including a man, who "while driving his car, intentionally took aim, ran over and killed several ducks." Lyons said one of his neighbors "throws a bamboo spear at them when they are on his property and has stated that he can 'wring their necks' if he wants to when they're in his yard."

Lyons' wife, Maureen, added to the litany of abuse: "The human attackers are like snipers. They do the deed and then get out, so it is difficult to document the appalling activities on tape. ... In my immediate neighborhood ... there are people who curse at them, intentionally run them over, and one of our neighbors has resorted to breaking their legs with a 5-iron.

"This year alone, five ducks were crippled and countless others maimed by the same neighbor, who also likes to put cracked clay pots, shard side up, under hedges to potentially injure their feet. It is not uncommon to see kids throwing stones at them or batting them with sticks or baseball bats."

The Lyonses and others said the police have not responded to their complaints of abuse.

Matson, the acting police chief, said he examined the department's records and found no complaints of duck abuse.

"This was new to me," Matson said. "They're going to have to call when this thing is happening."

But the police have done something even worse than ignoring complaints, said Brenda Hott.

"I personally witnessed a police officer, a Kenneth City police officer, spraying a duck with Mace," Hott said. She said the female officer and others who were present "just seemed to enjoy what they were doing."

Ramiro Isaza, a veterinarian specializing in nondomestic species and chief of zoological medicine service at the University of Florida School of Veterinary Medicine, said the effect would probably be the same as using pepper spray on a dog or cat.

"In the eyes, it would be expected to be very uncomfortable," Isaza said, but it probably would not cause permanent damage.

Isaza declined to say whether pepper-spraying a duck constitutes cruelty. That would depend on the circumstances, he said.

"I don't know what this duck was doing," Isaza said. "It was probably not used for the benefit of the animal, but without the details, who can say."

The council members tabled the proposed ordinance until they could get more information about the ducks, their treatment and the impact on the Muscovies and humans if people continue to feed them.

[Last modified September 18, 2007, 23:09:47]