Three teens have been arrested after catching a beloved mother swan and allegedly eating her on Memorial Day, leaving her four babies motherless.
The swan, Fay, and her four babies were abducted Saturday from Manlius Swan Pond in Manlius, New York. They were last seen by a village worker tending flowers in the area, Manlius village mayor Paul Whorrall said.
Eman Hussan, 18, of Syracuse was arrested in connection with Fay’s murder, along with a 16-year-old and a 17-year-old, Manlius police Sgt. Ken Hatter said.
Fortunately, the family did not include the four Swan babies, known as cygnets, as part of their meal. On Tuesday, police said all four baby swans had been found and are currently in the care of a biologist, who has been raising Fay since 2007.
Hussan and the other teens have been charged with grand larceny and mischief, as well as felonies of conspiracy and criminal offences.
Two youths, a 16-year-old from Syracuse and a 17-year-old from Syracuse, and 18-year-old Eman Hussan from Syracuse were arrested for killing and eating Fay, the town’s swan.
Faye, famous resident of Manlius’ Swan Pond and mother of four baby swans, is killed and eaten
Manny & Fay, the iconic swan couple, have been Manlius mascots and captured the hearts of the town and visitors to Manlius Pond
In a press conference Wednesday morning, Manlius police said the suspects jumped the fence in the middle of the night, captured Fay, detained and killed her. The teens allegedly killed Fay at the pond and then brought her home to have dinner with family and friends.
Despite eating the swan, the suspect’s family and friends told police they didn’t know it was a swan, but thought it was a very large duck, and didn’t know it was a wild animal either.
The teens had no intention of eating the cygnets, but told police they planned to raise them as pets.
Tips received after a press release helped police locate two of the babies at a business in Shop City Plaza in the city of Salina. After obtaining search warrants, police found the two others in a house in the city of Syracuse.
Two of the suspects, including a Shop City Plaza employee, turned themselves in.
The two youths were released to their parents on entry tickets and Hussan was taken to a centralized arraignment awaiting arraignment. Hussan was released and will appear in court on June 15 at 6:30 pm
The co-owner of Black Friday Bins at 139 Shop City Plaza said on Facebook Tuesday night that two of the four stolen baby swans were in their store, but that the store thought the swans were ducks or geese.
Three employees at the store were fired after they were discovered to have brought two of the four stolen baby swans to the store, according to Syracuse.com.
Police said the teens “didn’t necessarily show remorse,” but were likely regretting what they did.
The teens apparently were unaware that the swan was considered a mascot for the village, police said.
“They had no idea of the significance the swans had for this community,” police said.
Police said Hussan had a hunting license. At this time, the police have no knowledge of previous illegal activities. The suspects did not lack food, but hunting as an activity, according to the police.
The mayor said the biologist will take care of the young boars for the next four weeks as they are not yet ready to live on their own.
Manny will be taken out of the pond, the mayor said, because there’s a chance he’ll get belligerent after losing his mate. The town’s biologist will look after Manny until they find another location for him.
“Since swans mate forever, the loss of Faye may cause Manny to become combative so he is removed from the pond,” he said.
“The four cygnets will grow up and hopefully two of them will mate and go back to what it used to be.”
Neighbors are mourning the loss of the iconic swan pair, known as the Manlius mascot, and are erecting memorials around town.
The lineage of swans has existed for over 100 years and was originally donated to the village along with the pond in 1905.
The mayor said the city plans to continue the tradition of keeping swans.
Some residents are pushing for the tradition to end and have signed a petition online to stop keeping swans, citing another incident in the past that caused a swan’s death.
Another petition ‘Justice for Faye’, circulated online calling for the harshest punishments for the suspects.
“The highest possible charge must be brought, who says they wouldn’t do this to a human being if they did this to an innocent animal, that they had no right to go in and then kill and eat,” it reads . .
But the mayor said the swan is a symbol of the city and the majority of the city appreciates its beauty.
To protect the swans and avoid such tragedies, the mayor said he was installing cameras and drawing up a safety plan.
The city plans to “monitor the pond at all times,” he said.
The investigation is ongoing and the Manlius Police Department is encouraging anyone with information or tips to call 315-682-8673.