Tiffany Lake Association

For over a decade, I have lived in the complex of Tiffany Lakes (Miami, FL), but it's not until recently that I have witnessed such an appalling amount of animal cruelty being committed. I love nature, so I always smile when I see the ducks that walk around our streets or swim in our lake. Unfortunately, many people do not seem to have the same mentality that I do.

The duck population has increased only slightly, but this slight increase has bothered various people. I have had people tell me that they've seen people shooting them with pellet guns. One time while at the lake, a teenager had a duck's leg completely tangled in fishing line, but this kid did not seem to care. If I hadn't been there to untangle her, I'm sure she would have lost her leg or her life.

However, this is nothing compared to what is happening recently. A lady who lives almost directly in front of me has become increasingly annoyed that the ducks occasionally sit in front of her house. At first, she did nothing, but this changed as time went on. She began to leave her front door open and sit by it to see if any ducks came by. If they did, she'd instantly shoo them away. She then got into the habit of keeping a broom handy to hit the street near them to scare them off. Apparently this still wasn't enough because she now hits the ducks with the broom and chases them off for long distances, swinging left and right in such a heartless manner.

One of the ducks she did this to had his leg completely shattered. I took him to the South Florida Wildlife Center with the hope that they'd be able to do something, but they were not able to do so. They had to put him down.

I write this in the hopes that someone is able to help these poor defenseless ducks. There is only so much I can do, and I need some help.