Who Gives a Duck?

UPDATE ON THE DUCK: LESS THAN A DAY AFTER I POSTED THIS ARTICLE, AN AMAZING COUPLE MANAGED TO FREE THE DUCK FROM THE WIRE! I WILL BE KEEPING AN EYE TO SEE IF DUCKY NEEDS MEDICAL ATTENTION. THANK YOU EVERYONE FOR SHARING! THIS IS THE POWER OF SOCIAL MEDIA!

I’ve dragged my child to Averill Park in San Pedro so many times over the past week that she flat out refuses to go at this point, or does so with the unmatched kicking screaming ferocity of a discontented toddler. Because, well, The Duck. The duck with the fishing wire digging into the webbing of his foot, the one who has grown increasingly weak over the past days, the one that I just can’t seem to get any help for because apparently no one really cares.

When I discovered him a week ago, I thought it would be a pretty easy fix — call the parks and recreation park rangers and they’d send someone out. But instead, I called the park rangers who sent no one out, then I called the Harbor Animal Care Center who sent no one out, then I called the Carson Shelter who directed me to the LA shelter who isn’t accepting calls due to budget cuts. I called the International Bird Rescue in San Pedro who told me they don’t do white ducks, I called the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Services who gave me numbers to independent rescue people, all of whom were unable to come out. I called the duck rescue lady but she’s so overwhelmed her answering machine message is literally a desperate plea for help. Are you kidding me?

So here I am dragging my toddler up to the park three times a day with a sheet and a pair of clippers to see if there is any way I can somehow save this bird — which there isn’t, of course. I cannot singlehandedly save this bird and nobody, literally nobody with any resources, gives a duck. If this isn’t bad enough, spending all this time at the park equates to me running around after my baby shouting dire warnings because the broken bottles in the grass, and along the walkway, and the used condoms, and the discarded straws, the liquor bottles and other garbage strewn about. And apparently the other ducks are just randomly dropping dead which is no surprise because the pond itself is truly filthy.

Now I have never liked to be a squeaky wheel, I consider myself a pretty passive person, but who is responsible here? I mean, where are our dollars going? Is the dejected tone of the multiple city workers I’ve spoken to legitimate? Do they really just not have the manpower? Is this sheer laziness? What’s going on?

Anyways, I’ve given up on them. The sole reason I am writing this is to get help from someone or some people to save this duck who has fishing wire wrapped around his foot and will die because people are too damn lazy to pick up their trash and the park services are clearly no better at cleaning up and taking care. So, yeah, contact me so we can save this bird. It’s a nice thing to do. It’s decent. Life matters.