A 34-year-old man has been arrested and charged after a Canada goose was beaten to death in broad daylight in Vancouver鈥檚 Stanley Park.
Multiple bystanders say they witnessed a man, who was shirtless and shoeless at the time, bludgeon the bird to death with a thick wooden club near Lost Lagoon on Monday afternoon.
Witness Ebi Abedfard told CTV Vancouver he was walking his dog through the park at approximately 3 p.m. when he saw a man clubbing the goose. Although he was unable to record video of the incident, Abedfard did capture the aftermath on his cellphone.
鈥淚 tried to take the video because I thought he would want to continue doing the same thing again, maybe to people or another goose,鈥� Abedfard explained.
In the video, panicked witnesses can be heard yelling at each other to call the police as the suspected attacker calmly stands nearby holding a stick.
鈥淥h my God. He killed the bird!鈥� one man shouts in the background of the video.
The alleged incident took place just steps away from a daycare in the park.
鈥淸He was] smashing the bird鈥� like a baseball,鈥� Abedfard recounted.
Following the beating, Abedfard said the Canada goose flailed around briefly before it died. He said another Canada goose ran around the dead bird in the moments after.
Vancouver Police were able to catch up with the alleged attacker later that day and arrest him.
鈥淭he man was quite confrontational with bystanders. Some people did try to intervene that called 911,鈥� Sgt. Jason Robillard said. 鈥淔ortunately, the officers were able to arrest him without further incident.鈥�
The body of the bird and the wooden stick were both seized by police for evidence in the case.
Timothy Richard Louis Rowley from Maple Ridge, B.C. has been charged with one count of willfully causing unnecessary pain or suffering to an animal or bird under Canada鈥檚 Criminal Code. He鈥檚 been released under the promise to appear in court later this month.
None of the allegations have been tested in court.
With a report from CTV Vancouver鈥檚 Jon Woodward
