A baby goose is recovering today with a broken leg after it was attacked by a group of children Monday at Barnet Marine Park in Burnaby.
The baby goose, or gosling, was walking along the water with a family of geese when an unsupervised group of children started chasing the geese, according to a press release from the Wildlife Rescue Association.
The children continued to harass the geese until they scattered, separating the injured gosling from its family.
The gosling was later found in a parking lot by a local woman (who wishes to remain anonymous) and her family, according to the wildlife resuce.
"We were in shock as we witnessed this, and my son was crying because he was so sad to see these kids were treating animals like that," the woman said in the release.
The gosling was brought into the wildlife rescue Tuesday morning, and staff have since splinted the gosling's broken leg. The gosling will be kept in isolation until it regains mobility.
"The majority of the animals we treat at the (Wildlife Rescue Association) are injured by accident. To see deliberate cruelty by such a young group of kids is just disheartening," said Yolanda Brooks, the association's communications coordinator. "If it were not for the actions of a concerned member of the public, the gosling would simply have died of its injuries."
