Summary

In July 2024 and in many years past, South Shore Apartments in Alameda, CA routinely captures days-old baby ducklings from their pool, separates them from their mother, and dumps them, resulting in their death. This violates federal law - the Migratory Bird Treaty Act. The petition asks the California Department of Fish & Wildlife to impose a penalty on the building management company, Greystar - the largest apartment manager in the United States. 

Introduction

Every year, a newly hatched duck family (mother duck and ducklings) makes its way to one of the 4 swimming pools at South Shore Apartments in Alameda, California. 

The building management always orders someone (either maintenance workers or pool cleaning contractors) to scoop ONLY the baby ducklings and take them a half-mile away to the pond at Robert Crown Memorial Park and dump them there. The ducklings are no more than a few days to a week old and universally die within 24-48 hours, separated from their mother. 

 

Violation of Federal Law

After discussion with the California Department of Fish and Wildlife, we were told that the scooping of ducklings violates the Migratory Bird Treaty Act of 1918. CA DFW stated “Once the ducks have laid eggs they are considered active nests and are protected by the Migratory Bird Treaty Act.”

The statute makes it unlawful without a waiver to pursue, hunt, take, capture, kill, or sell nearly 1,100 species of birds listed therein as migratory birds, including ducks. The statute does not discriminate between live or dead birds and also grants full protection to any bird parts, including feathers, eggs, and nests. 

South Shore has never obtained a waiver or found a qualified professional to move or interfere with the ducks and baby ducklings. 

 

Current Incident 

This recently occurred at the end of July 2024: 

Wednesday, July 24th, 2024: The 10 ducklings were identified in the pool by apartment residents.  

Thursday, July 25th, 2024: A resident observed the ducklings being scooped and separated from the mother duck. In the evening, another resident checked the Robert Crown Park pond and found the 10 ducklings there, alone. The mother duck was observed and photographed still in the pool at the apartment complex: 

 

 

Friday, July 26th, 2024: A resident checked the pond early in the morning and only 6 ducklings remained. In the afternoon, three Alameda citizens went to the pond to search for the ducklings to try to help them, and they were all missing, presumed dead/drowned. 

 

 

 

After a resident filed a complaint with the California Department of Fish and Wildlife, the Department contacted the apartment complex, who advised CA DFW that Animal Control had taken BOTH the mother duck and ducklings to the pond, which was a blatant lie: 

On July 30th, 2024, CA DFW emailed us back: “From my discussion with management, they say that the mother was moved with the ducklings, and it was done by an animal control officer.”

We reached out to Alameda County Animal Control and they confirmed that this is false and that they were not involved at all. 

 

Demand Justice

This same apartment complex committed the same offense at least two documented other times. Residents observed this occurring twice in 2022 and met with management at that time to complain. No action was taken to identify more humane methods of dealing with duck families, nor modifications to the pool area to prevent nesting to begin with.

This likely has occurred other times at other pools where the residents have been less observant. 

According to the text of the Migratory Bird Treaty Act, violating the Act is a misdemeanor offense and can come with a penalty of a fine as high as $15,000. (Source: https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/16/707 

South Shore is owned by Greystar, the largest apartment management company in the United States, and has $76 billion in gross assets.

Sign the petition to demand that California Department of Fish and Wildlife impose a financial penalty on the apartment complex and not just a slap on the wrist.