Witness: Fisherman deliberately hit swan with boat

MASHPEE, Mass. – Police are investigating a report that a fisherman deliberately struck a swan with his boat on a Massachusetts pond, causing injuries that led to the bird’s euthanization.

A witness tells the Cape Cod Times he saw the boat accelerate into the swan on Mashpee-Wakeby pond on the Mashpee-Sandwich border on May 12. Animal control officers searched for the injured bird for weeks before it was finally brought to a rescue service on June 1. It had multiple fractures to its right wing and had contracted a bone infection. The swan was put down several days later.

A bass fishing competition was taking place on the pond the day the swan was hit, but Mashpee police say they have cleared all competitors of wrongdoing. They are still searching for a suspect.

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Information from: Cape Cod (Mass.) Times, http://www.capecodtimes.com