BOZEMAN — A domesticated duck was found with multiple blowdarts in its body Sunday evening, January 29. This prompted a rescue between volunteers and Bozeman Animal Control.
West Valley Park in Bozeman hosts a fair amount of ducks year round, but in the past couple of years, there’s been an odd few ducks that joined the flock. Three domesticated ducks were reportedly released in the area and made the pond their home.
“They never should have been dropped off, they’re domestic ducks and they can’t fly away to get food somewhere else,” Paul Gray said, “But somebody shot a couple of arrows in them.”
“One of them was missing—the female—which was odd to me because they can’t fly,” Susanna Lake, who discovered the injured duck said, “Within seconds I saw the male, and he had 4 darts shot into him.”
Lake describes the feeling as horror and how the community really appreciates these ducks.
Gray, who has had experience on ice, threw on waders and made the trek in an attempt to coax the duck into a blanket.
“One of the ducks may have died, we don’t know where it is,” Gray said, “It’s terribly sad to see somebody do this to the ducks.
After capturing the ducks, the darts were removed and the pair was taken to a Bozeman Pet urgent care. Lake says that the black duck, now named ‘Elton John’, was examined and had an X-Ray done.
“It’s like he knew he was being helped,” Lake said.
After spending a night in Lake’s bathroom, the pair of ducks made their way to a new home.
There is no suspect in this incident; however, Lake notes that this can be taken as a caution to people in the community.
“You can’t do this to animals in a public park. If your children want to hunt, take them hunting! But do the right thing, you can’t do animal cruelty because that’s wrong,” Lake said.
If anyone has information on the incident, you can reach out to Bozeman Animal Control.
