11 ducks killed, 1 injured at California Welcome Center in Salinas

Eleven ducks were found dead and one injured at the California Welcome Center in Salinas and animal welfare officers are investigating.

The center’s manager, Cathy Martin-Silvey, found the dead birds in the pond behind the welcome center when she arrived at work Tuesday morning.

“Broke my heart you know when I started counting them, I went over on the bank and started counting them and I’m like, there are 10 ducks. But when the maintenance guy came and got them, there were 12,” said Martin-Silvey.

The Welcome Center is located on the corner of West Laurel Drive and North Davis.

The pond is typically populated by about 50 ducks, both wild and domestic.

“I had ducks as a child and so I’ve got a soft spot for any animal. There’s Walter, and Calvin and I’ve probably got about 25 of them named out of 50 ducks,” said Martin-Silvey.

The ducks that were killed were domesticated, as was the injured duck.

“When I called the police department we found Tubby, who is a white domestic duck, way on the other side of the pond, which was unusual because he never goes over to that side. Picked him up with a net and he had bb holes in the side of him. So they took him to the Salinas shelter for treatment,” said Martin-Silvey.

The SPCA said the 11 ducks that were killed will be x-rayed to see how they died. We’re told Tubby, the duck hurt by the BB pellets, should recover.

“Going to be looking at the surveillance cameras and reviewing the footage in there, see if we can see anything,” said Martin-Silvey.