Duck found with arrow through its body near Fayette County pond
By Ricky Sayer
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FAYETTE COUNTY, Pennsylvania (KDKA) — A duck was found with an arrow lodged in its body near Filbert Pond in Fayette County, and now neighbors are banding together in the hopes of finding the person responsible for the act.
Residents in Redstone Township often come to feed the ducks, and there is an affinity for the animals.
“They are kind of like our pets,” said Starr Pompura, who lives near the pond. “They wander in our yard all the time, and the people come from all over to feed them.”
So, when she found that an arrow had gone through one of the ducks, it felt like the arrow had gone through them.
“I felt terrible. I felt really bad, and I just felt something needed to be done about it,” Pompura said. “I’m an avid hunter myself, and I have a bird dog; we hunt all the time, and I just find it cruel to animals to injure them and leave them injured.”
She noticed the injured mallard and took immediate action.
“We were leaving our driveway, and we were driving by and just noticed there was a duck with an arrow in it. We had stopped to see what was going on, and we thought this was wrong, so we called the Game Commission and waited for them to come out.
She helped the Game Commission remove the arrow from the duck, she said.
“We stayed for a little bit after to make sure the duck was up and walking and everything. It was swimming, and everything seemed to be okay,” Pompora recalled.
She pointed KDKA toward what she believes is the duck. It appeared to be acting differently from other birds on Saturday evening. Its wings appeared visibly wounded, and it kept its distance from other ducks.
“I just hope it continues to be okay, and there’s no infections, and it heals up properly,” she said.
Whoever did this, she said, should have been able to recognize that these aren’t just any wild ducks; they are special to community members.
It appeared the duck had been shot with a kid’s arrow, she said.
A neighbor took to Facebook to offer a reward for information leading to the person or persons responsible. The neighbor told KDKA-TV the reward was for $500. Other neighbors in Facebook comments pledged more.
“I just think that it’s great that the community can come together and try to help out to see what’s going on and to maybe try and stop this from happening again,” Pompura added.
KDKA-TV reached out to the Game Commission for comment and did not hear back.
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