Kitchener woman says lack of communication likely led to death of swan
Posted Sep 19, 2012 07:02:50 AM.
This article is more than 5 years old.
A Kitchener woman is calling for something to be done after what she believes to be a lack of communication resulted in the death of one of the swans in Victoria Park.
Just before 4:30 Friday afternoon Carol Esposti’s 30 year old son Brad saw one of the swans in the park in distress.
He called the contact centre at city hall where he was told by the person who answered the phone that they’d try to contact their supervisor.
Esposti tells 570 News, that’s when Brad decided to try and help the swan himself, “While he was down there, the swans neck went limp and its head actually went under the water. Being the animal lover that Brad is, he jumped into the water and did manage to get the swan onto the rock wall.”
She says she tried to contact the city three times, “And I kept being told that the wheels were in motion. In the meantime, other people were yelling down that they were trying to get a hold of the humane society and some did get through and were told that someone would be on their way. Unfortunately, no one ever showed up.”
Esposti says she finally got a hold of Joy Huggins with Wildlife Haven in Waterloo, “Bless her heart, when I called her, she dropped everything. Even though she lives all the way up in Waterloo, she still came down. Unfortunately the swan did die before she got there. It had been hanging on. The breathing was getting shallower and shallower, but it definitely was still alive when it was pulled from the water.”
She has now sent an email to all Kitchener City councillors, “Something has to change in their communication system. Nobody ever responded, and I think that’s pretty pathetic actually. They absolutely need to find out how the swan died. It could have been poisoned. There could be something in the water system. It could affect other birds.”
An investigation is being conducted by assistant CAO Jim Witmer and a report is expected to be presented to council next Monday.
Meantime, Huggins brought the swan to the University of Guelph where an autopsy will be performed. Results from that are expected in two weeks.
