A poor duck with a knife sticking out of its head is making everyone very upset
The RSPCA South Australia is asking everyone to be on the lookout for a duck seen in Byethorne Park, Nairne, walking around with a knife stuck in its head.
The organization posted an urgent call for action on their Facebook page for any information about the wounded duck. They are calling this incident "an appalling, deliberate act of cruelty," and state that they have searched the park, but have not yet found the duck.
In a statement, the RSPCA said, "A rescue officer attended on Saturday morning and searched but did not find a duck with a knife in its head. The knife may have become dislodged between the time of the photos being taken and the Rescue Officer’s attendance, or the duck may no longer be in the park – we’re continuing to monitor sightings of the duck with the assistance of locals who are familiar with the waterbird life in the area."
According to the RSPCA, if found alive, the duck would require urgent veterinary care.
Apparently, this is somewhat of a common occurrence in the area. The RSPCA stated, "It is not unusual for us to find animals still alive with foreign objects in their bodies – sadly just last year we also had a report of a duck in the Northern suburbs still swimming around with a rusty nail used as a projectile protruding from its neck."
After seeing the images of the duck, many Facebook users questioned the validity of pictures and claimed that they might be Photoshopped.
The RSPCA responded to these claims by clarifying that the zoomed in image of the duck is from a different photo and has been flipped. Three people reported seeing the duck and the organization received images from two people. The RSPCA said they have no reason to believe the images are fake.
One Facebook user commented on the page saying that she knows one of the people who reported the incident, and attested to the fact that the images are, unfortunately, not altered.
When the RSPCA resolved the Photoshop debate, the reaction from Facebook users was of pure anger and sadness.
If you have any information regarding this poor duck, please contact the RSPCA 24-hour cruelty hotline on 1300-4-777-22.
Topics Animals
Samantha was a Watercooler Web Culture & Lifestyle intern at Mashable. Follow her on Twitter @samiscelz.
