SCHUYLKILL HAVEN, Pa. -- Police in Schuylkill Haven are investigating an alleged crime of brutal animal cruelty at a popular local park.
Police say five ducks were beaten to death over the weekend and now the search is on for who committed the act.
A couple who walk around Bubeck Park reported the incident to police on Tuesday after they came across five dead ducks while on a casual stroll over the weekend.
Schuylkill Haven police have since been going over security camera video in hopes of catching a break and finding out who committed the federal offense.
"We received a report of mallard ducks bludgeoned to death on this past Tuesday. We suspect the crime took place sometime over the weekend," said Schuylkill Haven Police Chief Jeff Walcott.
Schuylkill Haven police and park officials are now scouring over video in search of any leads as to how the five ducks were killed. A couple who frequent the park first discovered the birds. According to the police report, they describe the dead ducks as having their heads smashed in.
"Over the 27 years of law enforcement, I've had smaller instances of animal abuse, but nothing to this extent, due to the fact that this took some time to inflict this much damage and destruction on waterfowl," said the chief.
Newswatch 16 spoke with a man who walks in Bubeck Park. He says part of the attraction of coming here is to see the ducks and swans.
"I was shocked," said Jim Finnigan of Pottsville. "Who would do something like that to the ducks, for God's sake? They're so pretty. They just sit there and swim and they don't bother anybody. They don't chase the kids or anything. The kids chase them, but the ducks know how to get away from the kids."
A baseball bat was turned in to investigators. The police chief told us the bat was found about 100 yards away at a separate location in the park but there was no evidence that was the weapon used to kill the ducks.