Residents of one upstate New York community want justice after a nesting swan associated with their village was slaughtered by three teens.
The Manlius Police Department announced that three arrests had been made in connection to the disappearance of a bird from the Manlius swan pond on Monday, according to WSYR-TV.
Sgt. Ken Hatter indicated that three suspects had confessed to jumping a fence sealing off the town’s swan pond in the early morning of Memorial Day.
The suspects — two minors and 18-year-old Eman Hussan — allegedly killed a mother swan known to residents of the community as “Faye.”
The mother bird was nesting, “so they were able to hold her down and she didn’t fight back,” Hatter told Syracuse.com. He said they decapitated her with a knife.
Hussan smiled and grinned as he was transported in police custody on Wednesday.
The police spokesman indicated that the alleged swan killers ate the animal which they butchered, but he said they weren’t hunting out of hunger or desperation for food.
“They did ultimately consume the swan, but I don’t know if that was more cultural beliefs or not.
“They didn’t really get into that. We didn’t ask specifically … but it did occur and to my knowledge, it did not happen before.”
The youths claimed that they believed the adult swan was “a very large duck,” according to Manlius police.
“They did not know that it was not a wild animal. That [it] was actually owned by the Village of Manlius,” Sgt. Hatter said.
Two of the swan’s babies were found at a pet shop and two were recovered from a home in the area, according to WSYR.
The youths allegedly responsible are facing criminal charges of third-degree grand larceny and second-degree criminal mischief, both felonies, according to Syracuse.com.
They’re also facing misdemeanor charges of fifth-degree conspiracy and third-degree criminal trespass.
Swans have been associated with the historic township of Manlius since 1905, according to Syracuse.com.
Manlius Mayor Paul Whorrall indicated the act of animal cruelty wouldn’t change the township’s association with the waterfowl, according to WSYR.
“As far as the village goes, we’ve had swans for over 100 years and we’re going to continue to have swans.”
This article appeared originally on The Western Journal.