More than 30 wild geese were horrifically run over by an all-terrain vehicle driver in Florida on Saturday in a “cruel and disturbing” attack.
Brian Schafler, of Cooper City, heard a loud commotion around 7:45 p.m. Saturday, but when he and his wife went to investigate they were met with horror.
More than two dozen sick, bloody or dead geese were lying in an open grassy area near his house.
“We heard a lot of commotion coming from an ATV type vehicle, we heard a lot of commotion with birds and ducks,” he said. NBC6 earlier this week.
Shafler told detectives that dozens of Egyptian geese appeared to have been hit by an SUV occupied by four or five young adults.
“You see this ATV vehicle, attacking, deliberately attacking all these Egyptian geese,” Schafler said. “They were going back and forth, back and forth, savagely running over these birds at night.”
His wife, Serena, bravely stepped in to help, raising a flashlight towards the scene in the hope of deterring the heinous killers.
“I took my flashlight and started scaring everyone by shouting loudly, ‘Please! Leave them! What are they doing?”‘
More than 30 wild geese were horrifically run over by a packed ATV in Florida on Saturday in a “cruel and disturbing” attack. Pictured: Surveillance footage of a crowded ATV vehicle driving through the streets of Cooper City, Florida’s Flamingo Townhomes subdivision.
Brian Schafler, of Cooper City, heard a loud commotion around 7:45 p.m. Saturday, but when he and his wife went to investigate, they were horrified when more than 30 sick, bloody or dead geese were lying in an area grassy area near your home
Dozens of Egyptian geese appeared to have been run over by an all-terrain vehicle that was occupied by four or five young adults.
Serena remembers several passengers laughing and yelling bad words at her.
‘They need help! “My kids would never do something like that,” Serena told the outlet.
Schafler said his South Florida neighborhood is typically very quiet and home to a wide variety of wildlife.
‘It’s like a social gathering. “They live and sleep peacefully here at night,” he said, pointing to the grassy area and lake surrounding his house.
The Cooper City resident later investigated the “massacre” and recorded first-hand footage of the harrowing massacre.
‘Another…another,’ he was heard saying as he counted the several mutilated birds. “Not just one, not five, not 10, not 20… but more than 30 injured geese lying there, with broken necks and guts everywhere.”
“There is no excuse for taking anyone’s life in vain,” he said.
Home surveillance footage showed the SUV packed with passengers when it was last seen driving through the Flamingo Townhomes subdivision.
The Cooper City resident later investigated the ‘massacre’ and recorded first-hand footage of the harrowing massacre.
‘It’s like a social gathering. “They live and sleep peacefully here at night,” he said, pointing to the grassy lake easement area next to his house.
His wife, Serena, stepped in to help and held up a flashlight toward the scene in hopes of deterring the heinous killers. “I took my flashlight and started scaring everyone by shouting loudly, ‘Please! Leave them! What are they doing?”‘
Broward police are now offering a cash reward for information that could lead to an arrest in what they call a “vicious attack.”
However, this is not the only time innocent animals were the target of a senseless crime.
In July, a vacationing Jeep driver was accused of deliberately shooting down 25 seagulls on a beach and was later charged with animal cruelty.
James Shephard Travis, 64, was served with a subpoena at his home in Hawaii shortly after the disturbing incident by the Pacific County District Attorney’s Office in Washington.
The seagull massacre unfolded around 8 p.m. on July 27 on Klipsan Beach, near Ocean Park, Washington, in front of shocked beachgoers.
Witnesses said the rented silver Jeep Wrangler was “drifting sideways between stuck vehicles and people” at between 50 and 60 mph.
A mother and her nine-year-old son said they were almost hit while walking their dogs as the van sped up and down the beach.
Travis was identified by Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife Police after a witness took photos of him behind the wheel of the blood-stained car.
Kim Ledyard McGee said she, her wife Bob and her friend Dorothy Howard saw the man speed down the beach and swerve toward the birds.
“We saw him weave his way through the flock without slowing down at all and he didn’t swerve to avoid any birds,” Howard told police.
Shortly after, they saw the Jeep return and Bob blocked it with his car, that’s when they confronted Travis and took the photos.
Travis was “dazed,” “continuing to apologize in a low, monotone voice…appeared to be under the influence of drugs or alcohol,” the police report said.
James Shephard Travis, 64, is accused of deliberately killing birds while vacationing in Ocean Park, Washington, and nearly hitting a woman and her nine-year-old son.
Travis was identified by police after a witness took photos of him behind the wheel of the blood-stained car, with one of the birds still lodged in the grill.
‘A few minutes later, he passed us again at high speed. After the third time, Bob threw our beater truck on its side right in front of him, forcing it to hit us or stop,” McGee explained in a Facebook post.
‘We jumped up shouting at him… He even still had a dead bird on his grill! After we dug it up, it still came out at high speed.’
Travis was charged with first-degree animal cruelty (a class C felony) and reckless driving, and faces up to five years in prison and a $10,000 fine if convicted of the charges.
“Travis drove recklessly and at high speed, nearly hitting pedestrians and several dogs,” police alleged.
Prosecutor Craig Newman said Travis would be issued a summons to return to Pacific County to appear in court, or a warrant would be issued for his arrest and possible extradition.