Canada geese abused with their Wings Chopped Off

The Union Democrat - Sonora California

Abused geese now at Jamestown sanctuary

Published: May 3, 2005

By DHYANA LEVEY

A gaggle of wingless Canada geese transported to a Jamestown sanctuary Friday, following reported abuse at their former home, are settling in fine, according to their new caretaker.

"We have a fence all the way around this place so no one can bother them — they seem to be all right," said Joe Machado, owner of B&J Duck Haven. Machado cares for about 500 birds on his three-acre sanctuary in Jamestown with his wife, Barbara.

The state Department of Fish and Game delivered the 19 geese to Machado on Friday.

They were taken April 26 from Lakeside Villa, a residential care home in Placer County.

Mark Jeter, a Fish and Game Department game warden, said he began watching the care home after a neighbor reported in August that its owner, Titus Bujdei, was trapping the geese.

Jeter said he found behind the home a tree that looked like it had been used as a butcher block — covered in blood.

The Fish and Game Department took 22 geese, all without wings, from the Villa property to the International Bird Rescue Research Center in Fairfield last week for medical care.

"I've never seen anything like it," said Jeter, who has been a Fish and Game warden for 14 years. "Their wings weren't clipped, they were mutilated."

One of the geese was so badly injured it had to be euthanized, said Karen Benzel, center spokeswoman. Another two are still at the center receiving antibiotic treatment. They should be ready to travel to Jamestown in about five days, she said.

"There is a lot of animal cruelty in the world," she said. "It's amazing what people will do."

Bujdei was not arrested, but Fish and Game officials said they are continuing their investigation.

The care-home owner said he had purchased the birds without wings from a flea market and was keeping them as pets.

His neighbor said he suspected Bujdei of using the birds for food at the care home, Fish and Game officials said.

"(The center) asked me if I wanted the geese and I said ‘heck yeah,'" Machado said. "I got pretty emotional about it. There's no excuse for this."

Contact Dhyana Levey at dlevey [at] uniondemocrat.com or 588-4530.
http://www.uniondemocrat.com/news/story.cfm?story_no=17244