Ducks being butchered in Edenderry
Ducks introduced to Edenderry harbour by the local Tidy Towns group are being butchered by having their heads cut off, the Offaly Independent has learned.
Chairman of the Tidy Towns group and local councillor Noel Cribbin said this week that the number of ducks on the canal has been more than halved, with over 20 ducks killed.
Speaking to the Offaly Independent, Cllr Cribbin said he suspects the ducks are being used as food as only the clean-cut heads are being left behind at the canal. Urging locals who have information to come forward, Cllr Cribbin said what was a family-friendly duck-feeding area is now “a murder scene”.
“If they were taken by a mink or a pine-martin it would be accepted as nature’s way, but to find the heads of the ducks on the canal bank is sickening to all involved,” he said.
Cllr Cribbin bought the first batch of 20 ducks introduced to the harbour in Edenderry some six or seven years ago and feeding the mix of mallards and flightless farmyard ducks has since become an enjoyable activity for locals.
“Up to now it’s been brilliant,” Cllr Cribbin said. “They have brought nothing only happiness and contentment for the dozens of kids, parents and grandparents who have come to feed them over the years.”
This year the numbers of ducks at the harbour was in the region of 40, but Cllr Cribbin said as of this week the farmyard ducks have been wiped out, while only 18 mallards remain.
Just last Wednesday another duck head was found, close to the duck shelter by the canal that’s been dubbed 'Duckingham Palace’. Cllr Cribbin says members of the Tidy Towns’ committee and local wildlife enthusiasts are, unsurprisingly, outraged.
“They are sick to the pit of their stomachs that all their hard work to build up the wildlife family has been wiped out,” he said.
Cllr Cribbin said the ducks at the harbour are so tame they’re almost domesticated, which would make them an easy target. “They’re that used to people they’d come up to you,” he said.
Cllr Cribbin is asking for anyone with information on the killings to contact him on 087 9073804 or Edenderry gardai on 046 9731290.