Save the Smithville Swans

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Short version: pet ducks and swans are freezing and starving while the owner, property management, and law enforcement refuse to let anyone help the birds in even the slighest way.

Longer version: Domestic breeds of swans, geese, and ducks often cannot survive the cold Missouri winters unless they have adequate food, access to water that isn't frozen, and shelter from the bitter wind and freezing rain. Some breeds are more cold tolerant than others, but it is still not acceptable to take an animal that can't fly, either because of their breed, or because their wings have been pinioned (partially amputated) to keep them from escaping, drop it in some water, and give it no place to sleep that is dry and out of the wind and rain.

Around a dozen swans and ducks have been living in a pond in a subdivision in Smithville Missouri, a few miles north of Kansas City. Residents have been complaining for months that the "owner" doesn't feed them or provide any kind of shelter, but the local police department failed to do a real investigation into the statutes that he is violating. He has convinced the home owner's association (HOA) and officials that the birds are fine in their tiny circle of water with no food or shelter. According to one resident who requested to be anonymous, he has a history of buying birds, and losing them every year from either predator attacks or starvation. The police told me he is a "business owner" in town, therefore he must be a decent guy who would never lie, right?

Several concerned parties have exhausted every legal means to try to find help for these birds for months now. On February 8th, afraid that some of the birds would die during this severe cold snap, volunteers showed up to catch the birds and get them to safety. We were fortunate to have the help of the Smithville Fire Department, who did not hesitate to walk across the frozen pond and capture as many as they could. No sooner had we loaded the birds into carriers when the police department showed up, demanding we release them. 

I am an avian veterinarian with 33 years of expertise working on pet birds, who has been consulted by animal control agencies, prosecuting attorneys, and other animal rescue organizations when they did not have expertise to deal with a bird hoarding or neglect case.   Unfortunately, the police department chose to take the word of the Department of Conservation, who has no authority or expertise with domestic breeds of birds, a local vet who doesn't even treat birds, and an investigator with a humane organization who said "she had never seen swans that big".   All of them apparently said it was fine to leave pets outside with no supplemental food or the slightest bit of shelter.

Please sign this petition, and ask your animal loving friends to sign it, so that we can put pressure on the Smithville Police Department, the Stonebridge Home Owners Association, the mayor, aldermen, and city councel, the prosecuting attorney, or whoever else might be able to do the right thing. At a minimum, these birds need a shelter near the water that they can all use without fighting, and a constant supply of waterfowl formulated diet in feeders that are clean and full.

#SaveSmithvilleSwans