Disturbing moment packed ATV deliberately crushes 30 geese to death
More than 30 wild geese were brutally mowed down by an ATV driver in Florida on Saturday in a “vicious and disturbing” attack.
Brian Schafler of Cooper City heard a loud commotion around 7:45 p.m. Saturday, but when he and his wife went to investigate they were met with horror.
More than twenty sick, bloodied or dead geese were scattered across an open lawn near their home.
“We heard a big ruckus from an ATV vehicle, we heard a lot of commotion with birds and ducks,” he said NBC6 earlier this week.
Shafler told investigators that dozens of Egyptian geese appeared to have been run over by an all-terrain vehicle carrying four or five young adults.
“You see this ATV vehicle purposefully mauling all these Egyptian geese,” Schafler said. “They went back and forth, back and forth, running boldly over these birds at night.”
His wife, Serena, bravely stepped in to help, pointing a flashlight at the scene in hopes of deterring the gruesome killers.
‘I grabbed my flashlight, I started scaring everyone and shouted loudly, “Please! Leave them! What are you doing?”
More than 30 wild geese were brutally mowed down by a packed ATV in Florida on Saturday in a ‘vicious and disturbing’ attack. Pictured: Surveillance footage of a busy all-terrain vehicle driving through the streets of Cooper City, Florida’s Flamingo Townhomes subdivision
Brian Schafler of Cooper City heard a loud commotion around 7:45 p.m. Saturday, but when he and his wife went to investigate they were met with horror as more than thirty sick, bloodied or dead geese lay sprawled across a lawn near their home . At home
Dozens of Egyptian geese appeared to have been run over by an all-terrain vehicle carrying four or five young adults
Serena remembers the various passengers laughing and shouting profanities at her.
‘They need help! My kids would never do something like that,” Serena told the outlet.
Schafler said his South Florida neighborhood is typically very peaceful and home to a lot of different wildlife.
“It’s like a social gathering. They live here and sleep peacefully at night,” he said, pointing to the grassy lakefront lot next to their home.
The Cooper City resident later investigated the “massacre” by recording first-hand footage of the harrowing carnage.
“One more… one more,” you heard him say as he counted the various mutilated birds. “Not just one, not five, not ten, not twenty… but more than thirty injured geese lying there, with broken necks and entrails everywhere.”
“There is no excuse for taking someone’s life in vain,” he said.
Surveillance footage from the home showed the ATV packed with passengers as it last drove through the Flamingo Townhomes subdivision.
The Cooper City resident later investigated the ‘massacre’ by recording first-hand footage of the harrowing carnage
“It’s like a social gathering. They live, they sleep peacefully here at night,” he said, pointing to the grassy lakeside lot next to his house.
His wife, Serena, came to the rescue and brought a flashlight to the scene in hopes of scaring off the gruesome killers. ‘I grabbed my flashlight, I started scaring everyone and shouted loudly, “Please! Leave them! What are you doing?”
Broward police are now offering a cash reward for information that can help lead to an arrest in what they’re calling a “vicious attack.”
However, this isn’t the only time innocent animals have been the target of a senseless crime.
In July, a vacationing Jeep driver was accused of deliberately mowing down 25 seagulls on a beach and later charged with animal cruelty.
James Shephard Travis, 64, was served a summons to his home in Hawaii by the Pacific County Prosecutor’s Office in Washington shortly after the disturbing incident.
The seagull slaughter took place on July 27 at around 8 p.m. on Klipsan Beach near Ocean Park, Washington, in front of shocked beachgoers.
Witnesses said the rented silver Jeep Wrangler “drifted sideways past stuck vehicles and people” at a speed of 80 to 100 km/h.
A mother and nine-year-old son said they were almost run over while walking their dogs as the SUV sped along the beach.
Travis was identified by the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife Police after a witness took photos of him behind the wheel of the blood-stained car.
Kim Ledyard McGee said she, her wife Bob and friend Dorothy Howard witnessed the man speeding along the beach and crashing into the birds.
“We watched him plow through the flock without slowing down at all, and we didn’t swerve to avoid any birds,” Howard told police.
Shortly after, they saw the Jeep return and Bob blocked it with his car, as they confronted Travis and took the photos.
Travis was “dazed” “kept saying sorry in a quiet, monotone voice…appeared to be under the influence of drugs or alcohol,” the police report said.
James Shephard Travis, 64, is accused of deliberately mowing down the birds while on vacation in Ocean Park, Washington, and nearly hitting a woman and her nine-year-old son
Travis was identified by police after a witness took photos of him behind the wheel of the blood-stained car, with one of the birds still in the grill.
‘A few minutes later he passed us again at high speed. After the third time, Bob threw our beater truck sideways right in front of us [him] forcing him to hit or stop us,” McGee explained in a Facebook post.
‘We jumped out screaming at him… He even had a dead bird in his grill! After we cleared him out, he still took off at a high rate of speed.”
Travis was charged with first-degree animal cruelty [a class-C felony] and reckless driving, and faces up to five years in prison and a $10,000 fine if convicted as charged.
“Travis was driving recklessly and at a high rate of speed, nearly hitting pedestrians and several dogs,” police alleged.
Prosecutor Craig Newman said Travis would be issued a summons to return to Pacific County and appear in court, or a warrant would be issued for his arrest and possible extradition.