Ohio: Strongsville police officer climbs down into sewer to rescue ducklings

OHIO -- A Strongsville police officer rescued four ducklings on Saturday morning. Police said the ducklings fell into a sewer drain.

Officer Larotonda went down in the sewer and reunited the ducklings with their mother. Police said the mother was happy to have her babies back.

The Facebook post by the Strongsville Police Department got more than 290 likes within the first two hours of it being put online. Many followers of the page thanked the officer for rescuing the ducklings (as well as the typical snotty comments about police).

(WOIO - July 8, 2017)

Michigan: Firefighters rescue 8 ducklings from sewer in Sterling Heights

MICHIGAN -- Sterling Heights firefighters rescued eight ducklings from a sewer on the side of the road on Friday.

Crews were called to Schoenherr Road for reports of ducklings trapped in the sewer.

 

The Sterling Heights Fire Department posted pictures of a firefighter retrieving the ducklings from the sewer next to the curb. The ducklings were taken safety out of the area.

Animal control officer Kim Walton and department of public works employee Brian Geldhof helped firefighters in the rescue.

The ducklings were reunited with their mother duck.

 

(ClickOnDetroit - June 17, 2017)

Oregon: Mama duck chooses the safest place in Clackamas County to have her babies

OREGON -- Clackamas County Sheriff's Office posted on Facebook April 19, 2017 ·

There was an escape today at the Clackamas County Jail!

Four weeks ago, nine baby ducklings were born inside the secure perimeter of the jail.

Jail staff patiently waited for the ducklings to mature. Today they helped the mama duck escort her babies out of the secure portion of the jail and into a nearby pond.

We're told the mama duck and her nine baby ducklings are doing great -- and can be officially classified as "escape artists."

Australia: Laughing chefs 'attacked two lost ducklings before decapitating one of them' at pub called the Star Bar in Tasmania

AUSTRALIA -- Kitchen staff at a pub called the Star Bar (113 Charles Street, Launceston, Tasmania 7250) allegedly attacked two lost ducklings before appearing to burn the head off one of them, witnesses claimed.

One of the ducklings was recovered alive from the garage of the hotel in Launceston, Tasmania, and is being cared for by an animal rescuer, but the other was found decapitated.

Images of the body obtained by Daily Mail Australia show that its head appeared to have been burned off and the neck was blackened like it had been torched with a flame.

The ducks came to be in the garage after two women reunited them with their mother after seeing them wandering around a nearby carpark.

But the ducklings were scared by passing cars and ran into the pub's garage through the open rollerdoor.

Adina Purton and Melissa Singline said on Facebook that when they tried to retrieve the birds, the door was closed in their face as the chefs joked that they would 'shoot the ducks if they didn't get out of the place in five minutes'.

The women claimed they contacted a wildlife rescue group but were soon told by a manager that 'one of the ducklings had been found dead on the floor'.

'We were then handed a box which contained a small headless baby duckling. I am absolutely disgusted that anyone would mistreat an animal this way especially when we had given them fair warning that help was on its way,' Ms Purton wrote.

Ms Purton's post has since been shared more than 2,000 times with more than 1,000 comments.

Tasmanian Police said on Sunday that they attended the restaurant and believed the duckling’s death was an accident.

'From what I can see it certainly wasn’t intentional. They were trying to save it,' they said.

Tasmanian Police = morons. How does a duckling burn ITS OWN HEAD to the point WHERE ITS OWN HEAD FALLS OFF?!?

Thankfully, the RSPCA took it up the case themselves and are investigating the alleged animal cruelty.

'We'll have a look at the case, we'll talk to police and we'll see how best to address the situation on Monday,' RSPCA Tasmania chief executive Peter West told ABC.

Mick Acquarola, the owner of the Star Bar, released a media statement today calling the torture of a baby animal a "VERY UNFORTUNATE INCIDENT" [rather than calling it what it is: a CRIME] and trying to convince us that a baby duckling having scorch marks on its body and its little head decapitated was a "COMPLETE ACCIDENT". He backs up this absurdity by saying that the "police attending the restaurant on Saturday evening believe the duckling’s death was an accident."

Tell us, Mr. Acquarola how it is an accident that a baby duck has its head torn off with scorch marks left on its two body parts? Explain how that happens and how it's an accident. You would do better for yourself and your business if you issued a firm statement that you are cooperating with the police 100% and that if ANY OF YOUR STAFF WERE FOUND TO HAVE ABUSED AND KILLED THIS DUCKLING, YOU ARE FIRING THEM AND WANT THEM PROSECUTED TO THE FULLEST EXTENT OF THE LAW!

However, Mr. Acquarola doesn't do that. Instead, he goes on to complain that his staff were upset because they had been subject to "abuse" on social media.

'My staff and I are emotionally upset with the abuse we have received on Social media and people calling and leaving abusive messages,' he said.

He earlier claimed in a now-deleted Facebook post that there was no foul play and it was unknown how it died. But he made sure to complain and blame the Good Samaritans who were trying to save the mama duck and her babies. Wow, I'm sure customers will flock to his business knowing how he treats customers. Customers whose money pays his bills and keeps his business afloat.

(Daily Mail - Sept 11, 2016)

California officers live-tweet rescue of baby ducks trapped in highway drain

CALIFORNIA -- Officers in Southern California made sure to give the public updates on an unfolding duck rescue, live-tweeting the situation of ducklings trapped under a grate on the highway.

California Highway Patrol's Southern Division spent part of Monday afternoon sharing news about the ducks’ dilemma on its Twitter page, ending with them “safe and sound.”

The nine baby birds had somehow found their way inside a drain on the Ventura Freeway in Glendale, north of Los Angeles, and authorities began sharing their duck tales shortly after 6 p.m.

It was not clear whether attention to recapturing the ducklings stemmed from the recent Pokemon Go craze or a general love for adorable animals, though Twitter users were drawn to videos and photos of the birds’ plight.

 

The responding officers soon had their ducks in a row, rescuing the captive chicks as they posted about their small-scale heroics 12 times.

An adult duck was seen perched along the highway’s retaining wall, and CHP said that the next objective was reuniting the ducklings with their mother.

(New York Daily News - July 11, 2016)

Indiana: Columbus police rescue ducklings from storm drain

INDIANA -- Columbus police and animal care services rescued nine baby ducks from a storm drain Wednesday afternoon.

Two people heard the baby ducks’ crying around 1 p.m. in the drain near 7th Street and Pleasant Grove.

Officer Chris Strickland was able to remove two of the ducklings by hand and return them to the mother, but seven of the ducks were stuck in a different section of the drain about ten feet below the street.

 

Chris McDaniel with Columbus Animal Care Services arrived a short time later and used a net to remove the remaining ducks from the drain.

Officials weren’t able to reunite the remaining rescued ducks with their family.

McDaniel says the ducks are around two weeks old and appear to be in good health. They will be taken to UTOPIA Wildlife Rehabilitators in Hope, Indiana who specialize in the rehabilitation and release of animals.

(Fox 59 - June 15, 2016)

New York: Ducklings rescued on Commercial Drive

NEW YORK -- The first indication that something was wrong was the duck in the road.

Gina and Scott Donlyak, of Chadwicks, were driving down Commercial Drive around 11 a.m. Friday when they saw it.

Photo: Utica Observer-Dispatch

Scott Donlyak got out of the car to usher the duck out of traffic and thought it was strange when it began hissing at him aggressively. That's when he heard something that made everything a bit clearer: "Peep! Peep!"

The Donlyaks looked into a nearby storm grate and saw four ducklings inside — "really little, tiny things," Gina Donlyak said.

The couple called 911 to report the trapped ducklings, and New Hartford police and animal control responded. Officers were able to rescue two of the ducklings within an hour.

Photo: Utica Observer-Dispatch

Unfortunately, by then the mother duck had been scared away by the commotion, and the remaining two ducklings had moved further into the drain system and could not be reached.

"We were able to catch two of them, but the others scurried back into the pipes," New Hartford Animal Control Officer Jeff Madden said.

At that point, officials at the scene contacted Woodhaven Wildlife Center Director Judy Cusworth, who recommended that the rescued birds should be placed by the grate to help reassure their siblings and perhaps draw them out.

Photo: Utica Observer-Dispatch

When that didn't work, state Department of Transportation employees were called in to consult, but ultimately determined there was nothing more that could be done.

Cusworth, who will be caring for the two rescued ducklings until they're old enough to fly, said she's encountered similar situations before.

"I'm used to going after them in these storm drains," she said. "Maybe it was a month ago in the Applebee's parking lot, 14 baby ducklings fell into the storm drain and the mother didn't leave."

Photo: Utica Observer-Dispatch

The trapped ducklings might still rescue themselves by following the pipes back to a stream somewhere, she added.

"You never know where those storm drains are going to go," she said.

(Observer-Dispatch - June 17, 2016)

Illinois: Chicago Police Officers Rescue Ducklings From Sewer

ILLINOIS -- Chicago Police officers made an unusual rescue Saturday morning on the Northwest Side.

Shortly after 10 a.m., Chicago Police officers at O’Hare received a call to assist a citizen on an airport service road, according to a statement from police News Affairs.

  

When the officers arrived, they found two women trying to rescue a family of ducklings that became trapped in a sewer near the United Airlines Credit Union, police said.

Officers Floyd Eppling, Timothy Bolger, Carlos Soria, Martin McNaughton and John Conway removed the sewer cover and lowered themselves to rescue the seven baby ducklings.

After rescuing the baby ducklings, they reunited them with the mama duck, who had been nervously watching the rescue nearby.

Reunited family

(CBS Chicago - May 29, 2016)

Illinois: Man rescues ducklings from certain death on Chicago expressway

ILLINOIS -- Five ducklings were rescued along the Kennedy Expressway Thursday morning.

Chopper 7 HD spotted the group scurrying along the right shoulder of the Armitage Avenue on-ramp around 8:40 a.m. Thursday, dodging cars and trying to get to the other side. The mother was nowhere to be found.

A man in a light-colored SUV stopped, snapped a photo and guided them to the grass just past the left shoulder. He then got back into his car and drove onto the expressway.

But the baby ducks waddled back onto the roadway, trying to cross back to where they came from. A few cars maneuvered around the tiny animals, but one SUV didn't see them and nearly ran them over. But thank fully they did make it to the right shoulder.

Lucky for the ducklings, Cory Wurst and Steve Bennett were in the right place at the right time. The pair - service technicians for an Elgin pumping contractor - were on their way to a job downtown and were in the inbound Kennedy near North Avenue.

"We're on the Kennedy Expressway and we see a car stopped in the middle of I-90 and wonder what's going on," says Bennett.

When they realized what had happened, they went into rescue mode.

"A lot of people went around, but pretty much all we did was pull over, put our flashers on and blocked traffic while he got out," Wurst says.

One of the men scooped the ducklings into a cardboard box got out of a white pickup parked on the right side of the Kennedy. Bennett thought he would be able to release them to safety nearby, but he was wrong.

"I let them go on the off ramp at North Avenue and 90 and they started walking right back up the ramp. So I couldn't just leave them there. I don't think they would have made it," Bennett says.

The men gathered the five ducklings back into the box and headed to Lincoln Park Zoo for help, but were told the facility couldn't take ducklings in distress. Undeterred, the men then drove to the Anti-Cruelty Society.

"This is very unusual. Most of our intakes are cats and dogs, so we're excited to have some ducklings," says Colette Bradley, Anti-Cruelty Society.

The Anti-Cruelty Society will make sure the ducklings are turned over to a wildlife rescue, which will find them a permanent home and try to locate their mother.

"I'm glad they're okay now. I'm glad they're in a good home and didn't get hurt," says Bennett.

(ABC7 - May 27, 2016)

Minnesota: Ducklings Rescued From Storm Drain by Firefighters

MINNESOTA -- The Albert Lea Fire Department made a unique rescue on Friday morning.

A group of baby ducks had fallen into a sewage drain in downtown Albert Lea.

According to Fire Captain Scott Hanna, this is not the first time it's happened.

“Kind of one of our signs that spring is actually here. We do duck rescues every year,” said Hanna.

An onlooker, Susie Petersen, witnessed the fallen ducks and immediately called the fire department

"They went down, and the mama went right by that sewer and they went plop, plop, plop,” said Petersen.

The fire department was able to open the drain, get the ducklings out and put them into a bucket. Then, they walked to the nearby lake, with the mother duck trailing right behind them.

“We try and get all of them into a bucket because then, usually, the mother duck will follow you,” said Hanna.

Hanna also notes that Albert Lea has always been helpful when it comes to animal rescues.

“There’s always someone that calls us, we’re not on ducks in the storm sewer patrol,” said Hanna. “It’s amazing the concern for animals that our community shows.”

(WDAZ - May 14, 2016)

New Hampshire: Officers Rescue 11 Ducklings From Exeter, NH Storm Drain

NEW HAMPSHIRE -- Police and Department of Public Works employees helped rescue nearly a dozen ducklings from a storm drain in New Hampshire.

On Friday, Exeter Police posted photos from the duck rescue.

 

Police said two officers were joined by a pair of DPW workers in plucking 11 baby ducks from the drain.

 

 

 

According to police, “Mommy Duck and two (smarter) ducklings anxiously supervised!”

(CBS Local - April 23, 2016)

California: Animal Control officer and security guard rescue trapped ducklings

CALIFORNIA -- Four baby ducks were rescued after falling into a storm drain at a Palm Desert country club Wednesday night.

They fell into a drain at Adalin Way and Joetta Place in Oasis Country Club, according to the Riverside County Department of Animal Services. Officials were notified after several people reported “a momma duck and ducklings needing help.”

An animal control officer got to the scene and discovered four of 12 ducklings had fallen through a metal grate.

The rest of the duck family waited in a nearby lake while the officer worked with a security guard to remove the grate. The officer climbed about seven feet into the drain and collected the ducklings, according to the animal department.

He and the security guard walked the ducklings to the lake.

“When I sat the missing four down … they heard their mom quack, they jumped in the water and swam as fast as they could to meet up with mom and their brothers and sisters,” Riverside Animal Control Officer James Huffman added.

(Desert Sun - March 31, 2016)

California: After mama and baby ducks rescued by CHP, one duckling found hiding under seat in patrol car. Don't worry it has a happy ending!

CALIFORNIA -- Wildlife caretakers released a duckling back into the wild Tuesday after saving its siblings and mother in June, a spokesman for the California Highway Patrol said.

A motorist stopped at Golden Gate Vista Point on June 9 at about 3:30 p.m. to tell a CHP motorcycle officer that a duck was walking hysterically around the 19th Avenue ramp to U.S. Highway 101 in San Francisco.

 

The motorist thought perhaps the duck’s young had fallen into a storm drain and the duck would wander into traffic, CHP officials said. Two CHP officers responded and found the mother duck near the drain, CHP officials said. The ducklings had indeed fallen into the drain.

Another officer responded and the three were able to remove the grate from the drain, according to the CHP. One of the officers climbed into the drain and rescued the ducklings, CHP officials said. The officers put the ducklings in the back of a patrol car and then drove them with the mother close behind to an open space and released them, according to the CHP.

As the officer who drove the ducklings to the open space left the area, the officer heard a chirp inside the car. One of the ducklings was under a seat and did not get released with its siblings, according to the CHP.

Officers returned to the area where they released the mother and other ducklings, but could not find them. So they took the duckling to WildCare in San Rafael, CHP officials said.

WildCare workers raised the duckling until they released it Tuesday with eight other ducks in a lake at San Geronimo Golf Course in Marin County.

(KRON - Aug 7, 2015)

Jason Falbo pleads guilty to purposely running over helpless ducklings with lawn mower

FLORIDA -- He intentionally mowed over nine ducklings. Now the landscaper responsible for the Muscovy massacre in May has been handed a jail sentence.

Jason Scott Falbo II, 24, of Royal Palm Beach, pleaded guilty Thursday in Palm Beach County court to nine counts of felony cruelty to animals.

And at the same time, the lawn man pleaded guilty to a separate domestic battery by strangulation charge concerning a fight with his girlfriend about a month before the duck carnage.

  

For both crimes, the punishment handed down from Circuit Judge Glenn Kelley totals three years of probation, with the first year to be spent in Palm Beach County Jail.

The owners of the Wellington home and back yard where the newborn ducks perished under Falbo’s blades contacted authorities soon after watching the horror on the afternoon of May 2.

Boyd Jentzsch told an animal control officer he confronted Falbo after the mower scattered pieces of the ducklings all over the grass. Falbo’s reply, according to the arrest report: “They were in my path so I just kept mowing.”

The mother duck and four of her ducklings managed to escape to a lake behind the property, but two of the ducklings drowned, according to Jentzsch and his wife, Laura Gontchar. The couple and their young son had left food out for the duck family before Falbo, who then worked for a lawn service, arrived.

“These are our friends,” Jentzsch later recalled telling Falbo, in an interview with the Sun Sentinel. “These are our babies, we love to feed them.”

After taking out several ducks on one pass, a smiling and laughing Falbo aimed his mower at more of them, the homeowners reported.

“Nine baby ducks lost their lives cruelly and viciously with extreme intent by Jason Falbo,” according to an arrest report. Falbo’s employer told the officer it was the man’s first day on the job.

After he’s set free, Falbo must not own “any animals of any kind” nor can he live with anyone who has pets. Just to be sure he stays clear of animals, he’s going to get random visits from county animal control officers.

Along with those punishments, Falbo has to perform 10 hours of community service a month and have a mental health exam within 30 days of getting out of jail. He has two years to pay $669 in fines and court costs.

All of the terms of this plea deal were negotiated by Assistant State Attorney Judy Arco and Assistant Public Defender Darcia Rufus.

On June 23, Falbo wrote a letter to Judge Kelley asking for a hearing so he could make arguments to fire his attorney because he had not heard from her concerning either of his cases.

Falbo noted that he has an associate’s degree in a health field and he wanted to go back to school to learn how to be an x-ray technician.

“Please don’t destroy my chance to be a pillar of the community,” Falbo wrote. “Let me have a lawyer that wants the same goal as me.”

Falbo later informed the court he changed his mind about dumping the attorney.

On March 31, the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office arrested Falbo after he had a shouting match with his girlfriend that turned violent, records show. Falbo repeatedly choked her, but she was able to call 911. Falbo then told a deputy he never touched the woman.

Among the conditions of his plea deal, he’s under orders not to have any contact with the victim.

(Valdosta Today - July 25, 2015)

Earlier:

• Family 'horrified' when nine ducklings were killed with lawnmower

Pennsylvania: Ducklings rescued from storm drain

PENNSYLVANIA -- Tipped off by a female duck pacing back and forth on East Chestnut Street, a curious pedestrian began an investigation that led to Mifflinburg firefighters and police rescuing five ducklings from a storm drain on Sunday.
 
The pedestrian who saw the trapped ducklings called 911, which summoned Mifflinburg patrolman Richard Hubler, who investigated the scene and then called the Mifflinburg Hose Company.

Onlookers snapped photos and mama duck patiently watched the entire operation, said Tod Steese, fire department spokesman.

Several first responders pulled off the “extremely heavy” grate. Then, Lt. Loren Martin, a firefighter, reached down and, one by one, plucked the babies from the drain and delivered them into a waiting bag. The whole operation took about an hour, Steese said.

With the ducklings safely in the bag, Hubler took the sack to mama duck and, one by one, the little ones got in line and followed mom right out of the scene.

“They just walked away in a line like it was the most normal thing,” Steese said. “It was incredible.”

What’s more incredible, Steese said, has been the response to the story. Myriad Facebook followers gave the duckling rescue post 15,000 likes and 500 shares as of deadline Monday. Multiple media also contacted the fire company about the story, Steese said.

“It’s nice to put something out there that isn’t blood and gore,” he said. “It’s a good feeling for the guys to do something like that.”

No one knows how the ducklings got into the storm drain, Steese said, but this isn’t the first duckling rescue for the fire department.

Three to four years ago, ducklings were in a storm drain in front of the Hometown Eatery on Route 45. There was no gate in the drain to stop the ducklings from going deeper underground, Steese said, so one fire engine went to the end of the pipe while another one flushed it, floating the little ones out of the drain and back to the waiting wings of their mom.

(Daily Item - July 21, 2015)