Wurm
11-11-2006, 06:29 PM
BRANDON - Who would kill 14 ducklings in a pen beside someone's house by stomping on them, and why?
That's what Hillsborough County investigators are trying to determine after finding the dead birds early Tuesday in the Providence Lakes subdivision, Hillsborough County sheriff's officials said.
Someone stomped most of Tom Breitsprecher's ducklings to death late Monday or early Tuesday, sheriff's spokeswoman Debbie Carter said.
Three ducklings survived with broken legs and wings, but they had to be euthanized by a veterinarian. Breitsprecher said they were still peeping when he found them.
A month ago, Breitsprecher paid $80 to have four varieties of ducklings shipped from an Iowa hatchery. He planned to release them on the lake next to the couple's home after Thanksgiving and enjoy watching them grow to adulthood, he said.
Breitsprecher said he built a small pen and each morning fed the birds and watched as they paddled in a little pool.
The pen sits outside a living room window. At 11 p.m. Monday, Breitsprecher's wife, Susie, checked the ducklings before the couple went to bed.
After waking Tuesday, Tom Breitsprecher found the dead birds. Four were outside the pen, probably because they tried to escape, he said.
Whoever killed the ducklings faces charges of animal cruelty and trespassing, Carter said.
Breitsprecher is offering a $500 reward for information leading to an arrest and conviction, he said.
That's what Hillsborough County investigators are trying to determine after finding the dead birds early Tuesday in the Providence Lakes subdivision, Hillsborough County sheriff's officials said.
Someone stomped most of Tom Breitsprecher's ducklings to death late Monday or early Tuesday, sheriff's spokeswoman Debbie Carter said.
Three ducklings survived with broken legs and wings, but they had to be euthanized by a veterinarian. Breitsprecher said they were still peeping when he found them.
A month ago, Breitsprecher paid $80 to have four varieties of ducklings shipped from an Iowa hatchery. He planned to release them on the lake next to the couple's home after Thanksgiving and enjoy watching them grow to adulthood, he said.
Breitsprecher said he built a small pen and each morning fed the birds and watched as they paddled in a little pool.
The pen sits outside a living room window. At 11 p.m. Monday, Breitsprecher's wife, Susie, checked the ducklings before the couple went to bed.
After waking Tuesday, Tom Breitsprecher found the dead birds. Four were outside the pen, probably because they tried to escape, he said.
Whoever killed the ducklings faces charges of animal cruelty and trespassing, Carter said.
Breitsprecher is offering a $500 reward for information leading to an arrest and conviction, he said.