Shutterstock / Sean Pavone
A duck was publicly executed at the San Antonio River Walk earlier this month.
Henry Bassuk, the president of the Park Police Officers Association made the accusation during an appearance on KLRN-TV current affairs program On The Record, which aired on Thursday.
Officers tried to file a third-degree felony charge of animal abuse June 17 in relation to the grisly incident. However, an assistant Bexar County district attorney who was at the magistrate's office refused, arguing that animal abuse only applies to domesticated live stock and pets.
"[The assistant district attorney] told the officers that it wasn't meeting the criteria of a captured animal," Bassuk told On the Record host Randy Beamer. "So, the officers went again and reached out to state game wardens and other people who have much more expertise in the area of wild animals, and it was confirmed by state representatives and state law enforcement that this was the appropriate charge for this incident."
Bexar County District Attorney's Office spokesman Pete P. Gallego told MySA last week that a charge of animal cruelty couldn't be filed because the duck in question was an "uncaptured wild creature." Animal cruelty only applies to domestic livestock or pets, he maintained.
Gallego did not immediately respond to the Current's request for comment.
Bassuk told Beamer that Gallego's previous comments didn't pass the smell test.
"[The law] would have required [the duck] to be previously captured," Bassuk said. "But, there's no definition as to 'previously.' Just the individual's act of capturing it prior to torturing it, in my opinion, and in the opinion of some of the legal people who have reached out to me, is a clear definition of it's captured right then and then you committed the act of torture."
On the afternoon of June 17, a 24-year-old man who police say may have been experiencing homelessness reportedly picked a duck up by its neck and began slamming it against the concrete pavement of a River Walk sidewalk, stunning onlookers.
The perpetrator, whose identity hasn't been released to the public, was only given a citation, sparking outrage from some community members.
"To do something as horrific as this with no emotion whatsoever, that has to be dealt with in the most severe way the law can deal with it, because it's going to lead to further violence," Bassuk told Beamer.
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