Bird, dazed by ball, allegedly beaten with club
A golfer at the Putnam County Golf Course in Mahopac allegedly beat a Canada Goose to death Aug. 18 after it was hit and dazed by a ball.
According to the Putnam County Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, witnesses at the course said a golfer on the 14th hole struck the dazed bird several times with his club, walked away, noticed the goose still moving and returned to hit it again.
“We were told by a witness a goose on the course was hit by the ball and went down,” SPCA Chief Ken Ross told Patch.com. “It struggled to get up. Another golfer saw it struggle and wanted to put it out of its misery.
“People have different ideas of what’s right and what’s wrong. He didn’t want to see the bird slowly die,” Ross said. “The bigger issue is, none of these people are veterinarians. You don’t know if it was life-threatening.”
A golfer allegedly beat a goose to death at the Putnam County Golf Course. (SPCA photo)
He told Patch.com that a veterinarian that examined the carcass said the bird probably would have survived the golf ball strike to its chest.
The Putnam County SPCA, which is a law-enforcement agency, charged Enrico Sarli of Carmel with allegedly committing one count of animal cruelty, and police officers from the state Department of Environmental Conservation issued him a summons. The SCPA said Sarli will be arraigned at the Town of Carmel Court on Sept. 12.
The golf course has been owned and operated by Putnam County since 2004.
Karma!