Reward mounts in Calif. duck killings

CAMPBELL, Calif. -- The killer was brutal, returning again and again with his car to mow down his victims. In a fit of apparent spite, he chased them by foot, then strangled them with his bare hands.

The victims were a flock of pet ducks, a popular attraction at a local car wash in this Silicon Valley town near San Jose, and the outrage has been deep and widespread.

A reward to catch the culprit has grown to $22,000, a hefty sum for an animal cruelty case, as authorities continue to plead for help in apprehending a man whose malice, police worry, could turn to harming people.

''Somebody was obviously very angry," said Campbell Police Captain Russ Patterson. ''This incident could be indicative of something more, perhaps some deep emotional disturbance, some deep, anger-related issues that could lead to something more. And that anger is something that our justice system needs to deal with."

The sentiment has long been echoed by rights groups that have been pressing authorities across the country to take animal cruelty cases more seriously.

''I firmly believe that people who hurt animals will harm people," said Paul Bruce, program coordinator for the West Coast regional office of the Humane Society of the United States, which offers thousands of dollars in reward money every year, including a $2,500 contribution to the Campbell case.

Eight years ago, the national humane society launched a campaign to raise awareness about the link between animal cruelty and violence against people. About 40 states now consider extreme cruelty to animals felonies.

''I know that police have serious crimes, like rapes and murders and other incidents, and I realize that the kid who is torturing a cat is not always going to be on the top of their list," Bruce said.

For years, animal-cruelty cases were treated as mere property crimes. ''I think our laws are now beginning to see that they are more than that," said Randall Lockwood, a psychologist and a vice president at the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals.

''You start out looking at a population that is already incarcerated, and you'll see that there were incidents of animal cruelty in the juvenile history of these offenders," said Lockwood, who coauthored a book documenting the links between animal cruelty and human violence.

The website Pet-Abuse.com has tallied more than 1,300 cases of animal cruelty so far this year, culling the information from newspaper stories, reports from animal rescue organizations, and, when available, from law enforcement reports.

The website said 1,178 animal abuse cases were reported in the United States last year.

The duck attack in Campbell is among the most recent animal-cruelty cases to capture public attention. The reward money is among the highest ever posted for an animal-cruelty case, according to animal rights activists, who are both startled and heartened by the public's response.

Five years ago, animal lovers across the country raised $120,000 to help police track down a man who, during a road rage incident in San Jose, grabbed a small dog from a car and threw it into traffic.

Animal-cruelty cases, however, rarely generate rewards this high.

In Campbell, police say they are running out of leads. A surveillance camera recorded the incident, but the tape hasn't led to an arrest. The images were apparently too blurry to make out the man's face or the license plate of his car.

The surveillance tape shows a red car arriving in the wee hours of Aug. 5 and heading for the birds. The ducks usually spend days at the car wash pond, but often waddle through driveways and parking lots.

The car made several passes at the birds, according to police. At one point, the driver left his car and killed several of the ducks with his hands.

''I'm amazed at how much people wanted to help them catch the person who did this. But I'm more amazed that they haven't caught who did this," said Mike Davis, who has worked for two decades at Delta Queen Car Wash, which resembles a riverboat. The business is docked at a small pond, where the ducks swim.

At least 10 ducks -- all descendants of a pair, named Cheese and Quackers, given as gifts to the car wash three decades ago -- were killed. About half of the ducks remain.

''It was so cruel and mean-spirited and vicious," Davis said. ''For him to spend 16 minutes, for him to be chasing them grabbing them by the neck, it was just mean."