Two youths arrested for killing Glenwood goose
Administrator | Apr 09, 2015 | Comments 20
UPDATE: Two males – ages 17 and 18 – were arrested Wednesday in relation to the killing of a goose at Glenwood Cemetery in Picton.
On April 8, officers from the Prince Edward County Detachment of the Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) arrested the men, charging them with the following offences:
1. Killing Animals Other than Cattle – Section 445(1)(a) of the Criminal Code
2. Possession of a Weapon for Dangerous Purpose – Section 88 of the Criminal Code
3. Enter Premises When Prohibited To Do So – Section 2(1)(a)(i) Trespass to Property Act
The two are to appear at the Ontario Court of Justice Picton in May.
Police investigating death of goose at Glenwood Cemetery
Asiatic Goose photographed by Peggy deWitt
Prince Edward County OPP are investigating the death of a goose who has lived in the pond at Glenwood Cemetery in Picton for the past 15 years.
“Vandals broke into the pond enclosure and used a pellet gun to frighten more than 75 Mallard ducks and other water fowl that were staying there,” said Sandra Latchford, chairman of the Glenwood Cemetery Board. “The ducks were able to escape but unfortunately the pair of Asiatic geese (who mate for life) and live in the pond year round, could not escape because they have clipped wings and cannot fly.”
The female goose, Kate, was killed and William, her mate, is heartbroken,” said Latchford.
The pond at Glenwood, photographed by Peggy deWitt
PEC OPP report receiving a call March 21 at 7:20 p.m. about youths shooting at ducks in the pond. The youths were not located.
The geese were donated as a gift to Glenwood and later named after the Britain’s royal couple.
“Glenwood volunteers who feed the geese daily, year-round, are devastated,” said Latchford on the cemetery’s website. “William and Kate are beloved by the volunteers and many visitors at Glenwood, especially children who delight in feeding them. The cemetery’s staff, volunteers and board members are also heartbroken by Kate’s untimely and senseless death. Obviously, the Glenwood Board and staff we are working with the police to tighten security.”
Anyone with information on this case should call Prince Edward OPP at 1-888-310-1122. Anonymous tips may be made to Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477 or online at tipsubmit.com.
Filed Under: Local News
people need to be held responsible for their actions regardless of their age, please, they knew exactly what they were doing.
CORRECTION: Hopefully the courts get the punishment RIGHT after considering EVERYTHING.. Sorry about that folks.
Could it possibly be a bad decision made by a couple youngsters in a few minutes of bravado and excitement ? did the two youths have remorse after doing what they did ? Sure its a terrible thing they have done but these youngsters may be great Kids who made a terrible mistake. Hopefully the courts get the punishment after considering EVERYTHING..
How can it be worse to attend a court hearing than it is to shoot a defenceless creature in a cemetery pond? No one has suggested vigilante justice. Guns of any description have no place in a cemetery. Animal cruelty should not be tolerated. Those messages need to be sent loud and clear.
So your saying the police report is in error and one of the accused is not 18 years of age as reported.
The reason the 18 years olds name has not been released is because he is still 17. Until mid April, when he appears in court however he will be 18. That is why people
Why it matters to you guys so much as to who did it is even more concerning who cares. What you are planning on doing is worse.
Possibly a good way of making public outrage over this incident clear would be to attend the hearing for these two young men. I expect the folks at Glenwood do not want to see those two losers on their property in any capacity ever again. Who could blame them? Nice that the law protects juvenile offenders but time that their names were published and we stopped protecting them.
Senseless and cruel act. Mental assessments perhaps is going to far but at the very least they should receive councilling . As for punishment , I am sure the cemetery could use a year or so of assistance in ground maintenance and overall upkeep. Publication of the eighteen year olds name should be also done.
Wild ducks and geese fully feathered are shot by hunters all the time. There is no reason to believe that if Kate’s wings had not been clipped she would have survived this act of idiocy. The geese were tame so there was every chance for a good shot.
A rare act of malice that could have been prevented if the bird were to have had the chance to fly away. But it didn’t. To confine the birds to the pond was definitely no help.
Exactly Marnie. And why does it say two youths arrested when one (18) is an adult in Ontario.
How could anyone anticipate such a cruel and senseless act? The blame and shame rests squarely with the teens who shot the goose. The fact that she lived happily on the pond for 15 years demonstrates that what happened was a rare act of malice. Even if her wings had not been clipped she could have been killed.
Whoever decided to clip the birds wings should also be at fault.. they could have simply flew away if their natural survival instinct wasnt removed.. no matter if these birds were mated and here to stay they still deserved to have the option of fight or flight. In my opinion, whoever chose to clip the wings is at fault for putting the geese at risk, trapping them in an enclosed area.
If they had turned out to be youngsters one might at least have thought that just possibly they did not fully comprehend the seriousness of their actions. The fact that they are older teens is both very sad and scary. Their actions were deliberately intended to harm an innocent creature. Hard to imagine that any right-thinking young adult would do such a thing.
I hope they shoot the bastards with pellet guns until they understand how it must have felt. They are useless wastes of space. Maybe they should be made to clean up after the geese for a few years.
People throwing gamers in with these punks is a dumb argument and also people keep saying youngster and kids ? 17& 18 sounds like adults to me
Kind of an odd charge “killing an animal other than cattle”. Makes it sound like cattle are the only animals that can be killed which isn’t the case. Never heard of this particular charge before.
Really good news to read that the youths responsible for senselessly killing that poor goose have been apprehended. They should be made to pay for their cruelty to a defenceless bird.
Lots of punks around living out video game fantasies…….
If a pellet gun could kill that goose it would also be possible for it to injure a child. It does not sound like an appropriate “toy” for a youngster yet an adult put it in some child’s hands. The child or children who shot Kate have a streak of cruelty/stupidity in them but the grown-up or grown-ups who set one of them loose with a pellet gun is even more at fault. A lot of people walk their dogs in Glenwood and there are cats and squirrels there too. It should be a safe place for all. It’s the old story of a few idiots spoiling a good thing for the many. Hope the police find the kids responsible for this. Their parents should be held responsible too. They probably have a clue about what happened with that goose and should make their kid or kids own up.