Man arrested after allegedly firing gun to protect pet duck

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    ESCALON, California (KOVR) — Police say an Escalon man was charged with reckless endangerment Monday morning after firing his gun into the air to defend his pet duck.

Police say a neighborhood dog bit the duck, breaking its leg. The incident drew several Escalon police officers and the chief of police Monday morning.

“I heard a loud bang,” said Alejandro Mancilla who called 911 immediately after hearing the gunshots.

“Mr. Wilson had fired the gun after he saw the dog jumping over the fence,” said Escalon Police Department Sgt. Gustavo Flores. “He fired the gun to scare the dog.”

But Sgt. Flores says it wasn’t enough to stop it.

“The dog had attacked the duck. The duck is still injured with a broken leg,” he said.

“You’re going to put everyone else in danger to protect your duck?” said Alejandro Mancilla.

The dog was taken to a local animal shelter and eventually returned to its owner, and Wilson was arrested.

“The fact that he fired the gun into the air — it’s very reckless. Everything that goes up…it has to come down; it has to hit something,” said Sgt. Flores. “Luckily, we didn’t get any calls that it hit anybody.”

Mancilla says he’s glad the duck is going to OK, but nervous his neighbor could strike again.

“There’s other ways to scare off a dog than shooting shots in the air. That’s not very responsible and living around the area it’s scary to think someone’s doing that.” says Mancilla.

Escalon police say this isn’t the first time they’ve had issues with neighborhood dogs attacking other animals but firing a gun into the air is not the way to handle it. Police say just give them a call.

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