Two weeks ago, an employee at a gas station in New South Wales, Australia, was checking the station’s trash bins when he noticed something unusual. As he opened up one of the bins, he saw movement.
“[H]e noticed that something inside a tied-up black plastic
garbage bag moved,” B Starbright, founder of The Owl & The PussyCat Farm Animal Sanctuary, told The Dodo.
The worker immediately ripped open the garbage bag and was shocked to find a Muscovy, a species of duck, trapped inside. He didn’t understand how the beautiful bird had ended up in such a dangerous situation.
“When the gas station checked their CCTV footage, they saw that a few hours earlier a man had pulled up with [the Muscovy] already tied up in the garbage bag, opened the bin and simply thrown her in,” Starbright said.
The worker was deeply concerned and called Tweed Valley Wildlife Carers for help. The rescuers arrived quickly and immediately transported the bird to a wildlife vet.
“We’re so grateful he didn’t just walk away,” Starbright said.
The bird, later named Sweetpea, was in extremely rough shape.
“The vet confirmed by some miracle she didn’t have any broken bones, but the feathers on one of her wings were badly damaged and she couldn’t stand at all,” Starbright said. “She was severely dehydrated, emaciated and malnourished.”
Tweed Valley Wildlife Carers transferred Sweetpea to The Owl & The PussyCat Farm Animal Sanctuary, where the team members discovered that the bird had likely been neglected her whole life. She didn’t know how to eat duck food, which likely meant she had never had access to it. She even panicked around water.
“[I]t seems highly likely she had never had access to water to do any of the things ducks naturally love to do,” Starbright said.
Over the past two weeks, the team at The Owl & The PussyCat Farm Animal Sanctuary has been giving Sweetpea around-the-clock care, and she’s finally starting to feel better. She’s back on her feet and even starting to show the spunky side of her personality, which is a great sign.
“She’s grown into quite a confident, feisty girl,” Starbright said.
Soon, Sweetpea’s quarantine period will be over and she’ll finally get to meet the other birds at the sanctuary. After everything the Muscovy has been through, everyone at the sanctuary is looking forward to giving her a lifetime of love and happiness.
“Someone decided she was rubbish, and now she gets to live the life she always deserved, with good food, water to splash in and friends of her own kind,” Starbright said.
