How do ducks from city ponds/parks get there?

[trebkiwi]

Recently, I went to my town's local duck pond to feed them and I noticed several domestic breeds there. Rouens, pekins, and runners, all ducks that can't exactly fly like wild mallards. They were very tame and you could basically pet them.

So I was wondering, does the city place them there or are these products of people dumping domestic ducks? Sorry if this is a dumb question, but I've been thinking about this for a while.

 

[FortCluck]

People usually dump them for several reasons...

 

[Isaac 0]

Lots of people buy them as easter gifts, but once they realize they are an actual animal that needs to be cared for, so they dump them into those ponds thinking they will have a healthy/happy life.

 

[madhatterfarms]

I noticed one of my local parks had multiple crested pekins that I assumed were dumped, as they are not wildlife and are pet breeds that cannot survive in the wild. I contacted a local duck rescue that said if I could bring the ducks to them, they would care for them. I also have numerous pet ducks, so it was quite obvious to me that they were not considered wildlife.

I contacted the county parks department to see if I could take them, and they told me to call my local county animal control office to confirm it would be okay. Animal control told me as long and I know they are domesticated ducks and not wild ducks, I could take them no problem.


I went and caught all four of them and took them home to my farm until I could take them to the rescue the next day. Around 8:00am, three Sherriff cars pulled up to my house and said I was in trouble for taking the ducks. I told them I spoke with animal control, they then spent 10 min on the phone and came back saying they did have confirmation that I called, but was given the wrong info. They said the lady who takes care of the park claims they are the park's pets as she released these ducks and the community feeds them. They made me take them back and then banned me from the park for life. I was told if I didn't return them, I would receive 4 misdemeanor larceny charges for trying to rescue these ducks....


I thought it was illegal to release/introduce domestic pet breeds to public parks and wild spaces as they can't defend themselves and disrupt the natural ecosystem.