The Lucky Ducks

Crammed into cages. Abused. Force fed.
And finally dumped off a truck and left to die.
And yet they are the lucky ducks.

Recently, Catskill Animal Sanctuary received a call from the state police: a crate containing four domestic ducks had fallen off a truck (which didn’t even stop) on Route 17, very close by two foie gras production facilities. The four ducks were all filthy and covered with abrasions and sadly one was already dead at the scene.

At one point  while trying to get the ducks out of their broken crate, Sanctuary Manager Kathy Keefe picked up a duck and held it close to her chest, trying to soothe the terrified creature. The State Trooper on the scene turned to her and said, “I think this is the first time that duck has gotten a hug.”

Keefe rushed the surviving birds to the vet; one duck’s beak was split in half and bent gruesomely backwards, abuse that probably happened during forced feeding.  This poor creature was in such bad shape that the vet decided to euthanize her.

We have cleaned up the two surviving ducks and they are quarantined in a stall that’s bedded daily with fresh straw. Once we know they’re healthy, they’ll be introduced to a small flock in a spacious enclosure with its own pond. We’re not yet sure if the ducks are young males or young females, whether they were traveling to a foie gras producer, or whether they were on their way to be slaughtered for meat or foie gras. Humans annually fatten 25 million ducks so that we can eat their diseased livers. The practice is considered so cruel that over a dozen countries have made the production of foie gras illegal.

The ducks who get a chance to live with lifelong care and safety at CAS are truly lucky ducks.

What can you do to help spread the luck?

Donate to CAS so we can continue our emergency rescue work.

Visit CAS to meet our newest lucky ducks and enjoy them swimming in their pond and hanging out with their friends.

Learn more about the cruelty behind foie gras and work to end its production. (Warning: extremely graphic footage)