- March 5, 2025
The State’s Attorney’s Office is currently reviewing the charges.
BY MATT MENCARINI | STAFF WRITER
The Ormond Beach Police Department upgraded charges in connection with a local company's removal of "nuisance" ducks from a subdivision.
Charges were upgraded from an animal complaint, a non-criminal charge, to animal cruelty, the closest criminal charge. The State’s Attorney’s Office will now review the report to determine if there is criminal culpability.
The charges stem from a May 3 incident, involving Trutech Inc., in which animal cruelty allegations were made about the company’s methods of removing Muscovy ducks from a pond in The Trails subdivision.
The report filed this week stated that while the contract between Trutech and The Trails indicated air rifles would be used, based on the fact that numerous ducks were shot and not properly exterminated, leading to “undue suffering,” a criminal affidavit was warranted.
The State’s Attorney’s Office will now determine if the there’s enough evidence and grounds to pursue charges against the two Trutech workers.
Trutech, a wildlife removal company, was hired by The Trails Homeowners Association. Patricia Mihalic, a witness, told police Trutech workers had shot several ducks with “pellet rifles” and that some of the ducks had been wounded and left to die.
Florida Fish & Wildlife Conservation Commission officers, who were contacted by police after the incident was reported, said, “No violation of state statutes or wildlife rules and regulations had been committed,” according to the police report.
Joy Hill, a spokesperson with the conservation commission, also confirmed that pellet rifles and airsoft guns are “legal methods” for removing ducks from an area.
But the Animal Rights Foundation of Florida has since sent a letter to the Ormond Beach City Commission and Police Chief Andy Osterkamp expressing outrage at what it called a “cruel killing,” and the group has encouraged the filing of criminal charges.
