A woman walking her dog on the south shore of St. Croix Wednesday, Dec. 18, spotted a wounded pelican flopping in the water, and the woman had the presence of mind to call Toni Lance of the St. Croix Avian Sanctuary.
Lance met the woman and waded into the water to pick up the bird, which had landed in a pond. The pelican couldn’t fly because one wing was injured. Lance took it to the St. Croix Animal Welfare Center where Dr. Michelle Mehalick X-rayed the bird and discovered a pellet lodged in the shoulder.
“Nothing is broken. The range of motion is pretty good, but there is weakness,” Mehalick told the Source.
The pellet was lodged too deeply to remove it, the veterinarian said, and the pelican was returned to Lance’s sanctuary for antibiotics and rehabilitation. It is expected to recover.
Mehalick said there have been a lot of pellet gun shootings recently – the high velocity projectiles have the power to kill a 60-pound dog. The shelter is keeping a log of incidents to try to develop a pattern. There have been cats, dogs and even a hawk that were victims of pellet guns, she said.
“It seems more for entertainment than anything,” she said, asking why anyone would drive by an elderly woman’s house and shoot her little dog in the yard.
Detective Daniel Rodriguez, animal cruelty investigator for the V.I. Police Department, said he will generate a case about the shooting and that there are several other open cases of other pellet gun victims – horses, cats, dogs and birds.
“Any time you shoot an animal, and a bird is considered an animal, it will be animal abuse,” he said, adding that the penalty could be up to two years in prison. The Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act was signed into law this year, making it a federal crime to torture animals.
Pellet guns are not illegal and not considered a firearm, Rodriguez said, unless it is used on a human being.
Lance said it will be a long rehabilitation for the pelican, but “if she hadn’t found it, it would be starving to death and dying,” she said about the woman who called her.
After the pelican was treated, a deer hit by a car was brought into the animal hospital. The deer was given steroids and released to heal on its own.
Ten days ago, a green turtle was brought into the AWC tangled in a fishing line. Named Josephine by the staff, the turtle is still being cared for, hoping she will expel the line from her throat and stomach. There is a call out to the public to bring sea grass for the turtle and Instant Ocean Sea Salt to cover her with sea water.
“It’s wildlife week,” Mehalick said.
