Shooting of pet duck "a horrible thing to do," owner says

BARRE TOWN, Vt. --A woman who keeps pet ducks found one of them killed in a pond near her home, and she wants to know who did it.

"It was a horrible thing to do," said Joann Darling, whose family runs the Gardens at Seven Gables nursery.

The white Muscovy duck, named Snowflake, was found Tuesday face down in the water, frozen solid with a bullet wound to the neck. Darling said the free-ranging domestic duck may have been shot from the road.

"I just want the public to know that there are irresponsible people out there with guns," said Darling. "It was a horrible thing to do," she said.

The incident was reported to police and the state Department of Fish & Wildlife. Major Dave LeCours, of the Department of Fish & Wildlife, said he didn't believe any law had been broken.

"It's not a fish and wildlife offense per se," he said. "It is duck season, but that would be like shooting somebody's chicken."

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Information from: The Times Argus, http://www.timesargus.com/