Domestic ducks, geese are deserving of concern, caring

Go to any pond or lake in the summer and you will see swimming among wild waterfowl, domestic ducks and geese. These birds - often white Pekin ducks or Mother Goose-type geese - were once Easter pets or the result of school hatching projects. No longer small and fuzzy, these domestic birds are dumped at local waterways to fend for themselves.

Unlike wild waterfowl, these domestic ducks and geese cannot fly in search of food, unfrozen water or shelter, so they are stuck where they are discarded. Sometimes people toss them bread, but bread is not an adequate diet to survive. These birds are in competition with the wild waterfowl for these morsels of food and the wild birds usually win out. Plus we should not be feeding wildlife.

So these abandoned ducks and geese, once pets, face starvation; entanglement and strangulation in fishing lines; polluted run-off water; acts of cruelty; predation from dogs, cats, raccoons, fox and hawks; and come winter, frostbite and thirst. Most shelters are not equipped to take in unwanted domestic ducks and geese.

What to do? First, do not give your children animals you will not or cannot give a forever home. Replace school hatching projects with non-animal, humane projects that better teach the miracle of life (check out www.upc-online.org). DuckRescueNetwork.org offers how to safely catch abandoned ducks and geese and sanctuary contacts for re-homing them. Domestic ducks and geese - like all animals - are deserving of our concern and caring.
Suzanne Dragan
Host of WCTC Radio
"Animal Talk"
Aberdeen