“What the duck!”, seems to be the reaction of some local residents after council member Pat Pignatelli claimed they had engaged in animal cruelty during a recent town. The accusations relate to the situation concerning Buddy the Goose, etal., who were removed from the River Road area of Oakland.
Even though a petition of 300 was compiled concerning the fate of Buddy the Goose and the ducks, Oakland’s relationship with ducks and geese seems to be on the rocks; the ducks were declared a traffic hazard and removed.
The U.S Department of Transportation hosts a forum for employees to discuss traffic issues; and on this particular forum, they discuss Duck Crossing Signs. The general consensus being that ducks are not considered a traffic hazard, though one member of the DOT board suggests that “A duck with a hand grenade is a traffic hazard.”
Oakland, NJ does not have any Duck Heroes, but there are plenty of them spread around the country. DuckHeroes.org celebrates some of them, and also provides advice to others on how to protect ducks in their neighborhood, either through Duck Crossing signs and other awareness efforts.
Across the pond from Oakland — that pond being the Atlantic Ocean – residents of South Sheffield Village faced the same situation as Oakland residents when the towns duck catcher threatened to remove the town ducks from main street.
The residents protested the threatened fowl removal believing the ducks were giving the town some character. One resident also declared, “You can’t cross the street without a duck”, in an effort to exemplify how they helped slow traffic in the town center. “The good news is that Council officials have now had their wings clipped and are hopefully going to leave the ducks alone.”
While Oakland seems inclined to utilize the power of the law to assurance compliance with the law, the two videos below show a softer side of local law enforcement.
Downtown Ducks
Interstate Ducks
But as DuckHeroes.org shows, you don’t need to where a badge to be a duck hero. The video below shows an impromptu neighborhood duckling rescue.
Duck Rescue
Sometimes the definition of a duck hero can be debated, as was the case at the last Oakland town council meeting where council member Pignatelli described the actions of the “pro-duck” residents as a case of animal cruelty. Most people would not agree…except maybe the people at The Goose Down Foundation which produced this heart wrenching video on the plight of geese.
As the Oakland town council has an interest in cruelty, perhaps The Goose Down Foundation video can help exemplify their serious and sincere beliefs.
The Goose Down Foundation
In conclusion, we offer what many to be considered the greatest duck hero and greatest duck rescue in modern times. It occurred in Spokane, WA which has a substantial number of ducks.
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How DARE he say that we are cruel to these animals!!! Every spring my neighbors and I are fishing the babies out of the sewer grates they fall through!
I’ve almost been hit myself when trying to get them out of the road so cars can pass!
When they nest in the neighborhood gardens we leave them be- no one tries to get them off of their property. We bring food to the mother’s hiding in the bushes to keep their eggs safe so they don’t have to move! Buddy protected them all!
Neighbors took care of Buddy when he received a cut on his head!
The only ones being cruel to these animals are the speeders, the town council and the BOH!!!
I really appreciate the support the Oakland Journal has provided to our water fowl friends and taking the time to do the research on this situation. It took me to Thursday night to catch the town meeting and then Saturday morning to have enough time to react, with work in full swing – working at Portabello banquets Saturday and Sunday and in the middle of construction from the flood (no kitchen or downstairs bathroom) I haven’t had time to breathe, but when I heard them attack my family I took the time to react! I have volunteered too much – while working full time – two jobs averaging 60 hours per week to have this guy – Mr Pignatelli – whom I have never had the pleasure of meeting – smear my family name!
I just wanted to thank Councilman Pignatelli and let everyone know that he did respond to my request for an apology for what I considered a slanderous remark to my husband in the following email he sent to me -“…. I looked at the meeting again and understand that you could be upset….”
Update on Mayor and Council Meeting attended on Wednesday – I got up during the open to the public session to comment on how the removal of the ducks were handled and if we can get a resolve to the issue. Pete gets up to the podium asked after all we have been thru with the flood this year – the removal of the ducks – jewelry being stolen from our home – how could Mr. Pignatelli possibly drag his… family name thru the mud – dead silence – awkward – then the Mayor stated that Mr. Pignatelli is not obligated to comment during the open to the public session. Okay, I can accept that. Then another gentlemen gets up, Mr. Monaco, and he asked Mr. Pignatelli what was going with the ducks and Mr. Pignatelli responds to him. Are you kidding me? Really? Pete was just up there and you had nothing to say and then this guy gets up and you are going to have a 5 minute conversation with him about the ducks! You had not problem commenting publicly last week when you suggested Pete used the ducks as speed bumps and now you have no comment – I don’t think so. Just before the Mayor was going to close the open to the public part of the session, I stood up, marched to the podium, restated my name and where I live and told Mr. Pignatelli that he owed my husband a public apology, because he had not problem acknowledging him publicly last week with the comments he made. Needless to say, Pete got his apology, the Mayor asked him to come back up to the podium so Mr. Pignatelli could address him. Stupidity is obviously a prerequisite when it comes to politicians and them opening their big fat mouths! I mean if you wanted to go with the whole “no comment thing” then be smart enough to follow through with it – don’t comment the minute the next guy gets up! Pete accepted Mr. Pignatelli’s apology and we are going to try and resolve the duck issue with the Mayor and BOH chairman in a private session.