Me and Bodhi, rescue of a male domestic Pekin on Blueberry Lake. He was anemic due to lice infestation. Bodhi will grow old with us, surrounded by love and respect.
By Shawn Smith, Sanctuary at SHO Co-founder and Executive Director
We are a domestic duck sanctuary. Our property is also a dedicated wildlife refuge. Our nonprofit works closely with wildlife biologists, ecologists, avian board certified veterinarians who treat wild and domestic birds, wildlife rehabbers, and state game wardens. We offer capture assistance for both wild and domestic waterfowl when the need arises. Being a member of a diverse team of experts has helped me to better understand our feathered friends - wild and domestic.
I grew up in the midwest, loved animals all my life. When I was a child, my parents would take me to a public park called Duck Creek Park, where I would toss human food to the ducks and geese. They came to me and ate the food, so I innocently thought they liked me and the food. No one was there to teach me differently. I didn’t realize that what I was doing was harmful to the ducks and the environment.
Today, I know better — but it was a long road to the truth. That, unfortunately, seems to be the number one problem to this day — lack of public education regarding wild and domestic animals, and how to be respectful toward each of them, their needs, and their habitats. When we do things, however innocent it is, that harm animals we are ultimately harming ourselves and the ecosystem that supports all life.
There are plenty of scientific and avian-expert articles out there for anyone to read about the similarities and differences between wild and domestic ducks. A 100,000 foot elevation view leaves people with the notion that they seem identical — feathers, flippers, bills, float. But, a 100,000 foot elevation view of wolves and domestic dogs, or mountain lions and domestic cats, would leave people with the same false notion — that what might seem from afar to be identical animals is not truly the case upon closer inspection, upon deeper understanding of the important differences that distinguish wild from domestic animals. If there were no meaningful difference, why do wildlife biologists and ecologists, veterinarians and scientists separate them into wild and domestic categories? The reason is because there are meaningful differences.
Your domestic dog or cat does not have the same wild survival skills, digestive system or autonomic nervous system as wolves, mountain lions or bobcats. Might they survive if they go missing, slip out of the house, jump over the fence? Sure, maybe. But why then have we moved to microchipping them? Don’t we trust their wild instincts to kick in once they’re out of our homes and on their own? No, we don’t. So, why should we expect that of domestic ducks? We shouldn’t. They are as vulnerable in the wild as our beloved dog and cat companions.
Me and Benjamin, night rescue of a male domestic Pekin covered in blood from a predator attack to the head. Ben was treated by our avian and surgeon boarded veterinarian for brain swelling due to blood clotting, infection and muscle pain. He will grow old with us, safe and supported in all ways.
The City of Lancaster officials don’t have to reinvent the wheel to gain perspective on whether they have a problem or not with dumped domestic ducks on public waterways — they do. To take the position that they don’t need to intervene is negligent for several reasons, including cross-contamination of avian-specific diseases, and the fact that domestic ducks are non-native to the ecosystems they are dumped at and compete with native, wild ducks and other wild waterfowl.
On a humane level, domestic ducks are not equipped to survive in the wild. They were bred and brought into this world at the hands of humans, for human use. As part of the human food chain, they live short lives, are fed to quickly fatten them up or increase egg production, and the animal agriculture industry sets a slaughter date for most males between the age of 4 - 14 months, while hens are allowed to live until they stop being good egg producers. Domestic duck breeding is intended to create fat (meaty) food animals, too heavy to fly or move quickly. It has led to living beings that are human food machines. They are burdened by a whole host of breeding-driven health problems that often lead to disease and early, painful death. These same breeding-driven traits also undermine a more wild life of flying to evade predation, migrating to warmer climates in the cold winter months, or foraging for all of their dietary needs. They were brought into this world by humans, on humans they immediately become dependent for all of their survival needs — protection from predators, food, shelter and veterinary care. They did not ask for this, humans did this to them. So it is our responsibility to care for them. Dumping them on public land or waterways is shifting responsibility to the greater community, and subjecting not only the domestic ducks but the wild waterfowl and their ecosystem to a burden that is unjustified and unsustainable.
The City of Lancaster has been offered a gift from the nonprofit organization, They All Want to Live, in its desire to simply be allowed to go to the public park to capture and remove the domestic ducks. Having been involved in countless captures, I know the extensive time commitment that is required to be successful. It takes organizing, strategizing, incredible skill, the right equipment, the right number of people working together like a well-trained sports team. Often you’re wet, cold and hungry by the end of the day. And that’s just the beginning — the actual capture is the first of many steps to placing the birds in safe, loving homes —— that is an entirely different story.
If you don’t want to take my word for it, read what happened in nearby MD. This is not a new problem, as the article is from 1994 — same issue the City of Lancaster is facing today, same issue so many communities are facing around the country.
“Twelve-acre Lake Waterford, for example, is home to 35 geese and 75 ducks -- a United Nations of domestic breeds -- and a watering hole for about 100 transient mallards.
The situation there is similar to that in community ponds all over the state, officials said.
“None of the ducks and geese that are here were born here," Ms. Yeater said. "They've all been dropped here," he said.
"It's a real chronic problem," said Marilyn Mause, Maryland Department of Natural Resources regional wildlife manager for Central Maryland.
"You pretty much go to any community pond and you can see non-native ducks," said Clifton Horton, DNR district wildlife manager for Montgomery and Howard counties.
State regulations ban the release into the wild of any nonnative animal that may harm native animals or plants. The maximum fine for a first offense is a $1,500 fine per animal released, but officials said they cannot recall anyone being fined for dumping domesticated waterfowl.
Kenneth D'Loughy, DNR wildlife manager for Southern Maryland, says well-intentioned people assume that if they bring the fowl to a place that has water it will live happily ever after. They often don’t.”
If you doubt the legitimacy of the threats to waterfowl and what that means to the environment, I encourage you to learn about the important work at Ripley Waterfowl Conservancy.
This is a serious issue on so many levels — protecting native ecosystems, protecting native wildlife, protecting domestic waterfowl, environmental justice, biodiversity protection, animal right. Whatever pulls at your interest and heartstrings, the same answer shakes out — allow willing individuals who know what they’re doing to go remove domestic ducks from public land and waterways. There’s no cost to the community, every human, every animal, and the environment wins.