Animal injuries at park not unusual

Deepa Bharath

COSTA MESA -- Jessie, the wild goose at TeWinkle Park who was recently

hurt by still-unknown assailants, is not solitary in her suffering, say

volunteers at local wild life shelters.

Several wild birds have been found and brought from county parks

limping as a result of leg injuries or with fishing lines around their

feet, said Michelle Berger, a Costa Mesa resident and a volunteer at

Wetlands and Wildlife Care Center in Huntington Beach.

Berger spotted Jessie at TeWinkle Park this month sitting by herself

on the grass.

“I thought that was pretty unusual,” she said. “Geese are usually

pretty social, they hang out in groups.”

When Berger approached Jessie, she saw that her leg was badly injured.

“I picked her up and saw her leg just dangling there,” she said.

Berger took the bird to the center in Huntington Beach. Jessie was

brought back to the All Creatures Care Cottage in Costa Mesa where her

injured leg was placed in a blue cast, one she will have to wear for

another week.

It could take up to six weeks for her to heal completely, said

hospital manager Debbie McGuire.

“It seems like it was a deliberate act by someone to hurt the goose,”

she said. “We may never know who did it.”

The Costa Mesa Police Department says it has not filed charges against

anybody.

“We’ve not received many reports of cruelty to birds in the park,”

said Lt. Dale Birney.

Berger’s complaint is the only recent complaint, he said.

Birney added that cruelty to animals may be prosecuted as a felony or

a misdemeanor. A felony carries the possibility of time in state prison

and a $20,000 fine, while a misdemeanor could mean up to a year in county

jail, he said.

City Animal Control officers also patrol the parks from time to time,

said the department’s supervisor, Robert Bork.

“We are not usually responsible for wildlife; the [State] Department

of Fish and Game is,” he said. “But we do monitor the parks and if we

find an injured animal, we take care of the situation.”

Bork said there were reports two years ago of teenagers shooting the

birds at TeWinkle with BB guns.

“Those are the only prior incidents I’ve heard of,” he said.

But Berger maintains that many incidents or potential incidents are

not reported to the police. Two weeks before she found Jessie, Berger

said she saw a bunch of teenagers swinging golf clubs at the birds in the

park.

“They were swinging the clubs violently at the ducks and the birds

were running for their lives,” she said. “It was a horrible sight.”

Berger said the teenagers saw her approach the security guard and

fled.

More and more visitors to the park say they are becoming aware of the

issue after Jessie’s injury. Sandy Wright, who was picnicking at the park

with her family Friday, saw a brown, speckled duck in the park that was

limping.

“We just told a cop who said he’ll let Animal Control know,” she said,

feeding the crippled duck whose leg was almost hanging from the hip.

“I don’t understand why people would do this,” Wright said.

The key to discourage miscreants is to become more aware and promptly

report incidents, Berger said.

“The thing is more of us need to report these incidents,” Berger said.

“The people who hurt animals are one step away from hurting people.”

* Deepa Bharath covers public safety and courts. She may be reached at

(949) 574-4226 or by e-mail at o7 deepa.bharath@latimes.comf7 .