FLEMING ISLAND, Fla. – Local business owners in Fleming Island are angry after dozens of ducks have been found dead in the last couple of days.
They said it’s happening in a pond off Business Center Drive, near County Road 220.
The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission opened an investigation into the deaths on Wednesday.
A business owner in the area said she believes that someone is intentionally harming the animals.
“I saw the first one on Sunday, and 10 have been pulled out yesterday,” Susan Schneider said. “Fourteen have been pulled out today.”
Schneider said there used to be about five or six dozen Muscovy ducks paddling around the pond behind her shop, but those numbers are dwindling.
She said the ducks appear to be dying a slow death, first losing their feathers and then having trouble walking.
“We believe that somebody may be poisoning the ducks,” Schneider said. “That’s too many ducks to die all at once from an infection. We are concerned about the whole area, not just the ducks.”
FWC officials said Muscovy ducks are considered a domesticated animal, and while it may be legal to eliminate these ducks if they are a nuisance, poisoning ducks is not an acceptable way to remove them.
“They’re animals. I am an animal lover and to see something happen to any animal, even as small as a duck, it breaks my heart,” Schneider said.
The Clay County Sheriff’s Office said it's received reports about the ducks and deputies have been spent the last couple of days gathering details from business owners.
If a person is found responsible for poisoning the ducks, he or she could face animal cruelty charges.
“(I want) whoever is doing this to stop, leave the ducks alone,” Schneider said. “They aren’t harming anybody. They don’t harm anything.”
FWC officials who are assisting the sheriff's office with the case said it’s early in their investigation and they cannot tell yet how the ducks died.
Anyone with information on how the ducks died is asked to call the 24/7 FWC hotline at 1-888-404-3922.