Large reward offered after goose found strapped with firework on Long Island
BALDWIN, Long Island (WABC) -- An $11,000 reward is being offered for information leading to the arrest and conviction of whomever duct-taped a firework to a goose on Long Island and set it off. The goose miraculously survived.
"Whomever I'm sure lit the firework, then, probably the coward, ran the other direction. Thankfully, the goose was smart enough to go into the water and douse the flames," said John Di Leonardo who, along with his wife, rescued the goose.
Di Leonardo, who is the Executive Director of Long Island Orchestrating for Nature, said a woman walking through Silver Lake Park in Baldwin last Friday noticed the goose and posted it on a a local Facebook page. One of Di Leonardo's members saw the post.
Di Leonardo said he and his wife first tried to bait the goose.
"The goose was very mistrustful of humans at that point," he said.
Di Leonardo said they had to use a net to trap the goose and then they were able to remove the firework. They immediately brought the goose to Animal General of East Norwich.
"They removed the duct-tape. It was heavily embedded into her feathers and attached to her skin," Di Leonardo said. "There was a lot of feather loss and there were minor abrasions to the skin, but they deemed her releasable the same day."
Di Leonardo said they released the goose in the same spot.
"She was raring to go before I even opened the carrier door. She was banging on it. So I opened the door. She ran out and saw her friends, flew over this little bridge and went right into the water," he said.
Di Leonardo's group is offering a $5,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of whomever did this. The Nassau County SPCA matched the $5,000 and Baldwin Animal Hospital added $1,000.
Anyone with information should contact the Nassau County SPCA at 516-843-7722.
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