Desert Shores, a master planned community in Las Vegas, has been home to a variety of waterfowl since it constructed its man-made lakes in 1990.  These include Canada geese, wild mallards, coots, herons, and more.  However, being an open community, these lakes also receive a lot of domestic ducks as you will find Pekins, Swedish Blues, Anconas as well as many Muscovies on all corners.  Unfortunately for them, they are unable to fend for themselves due to being domesticated creatures, "meat ducks" that are raised by people for consumption.  This fact is overlooked and blatantly ignored by the Home Owners Association as they find them a nuisance and would rather not deal with them but also not allow them to be appropriately rehomed to sanctuaries and farms, where they belong.

Along with the signs to "Enjoy the Landscape, Don't Feed the Wildlife" (using a picture of a domestic duck) which starves the domestic animal, disregard is also shown by the fact that they use chemicals to remove algae in the water which many times forces them to drink run off in the street, ending up killing many when they get run over just to access clean water. When both domestic and wild waterfowl are found injured or dying of disease, residents are not allowed to assist these animals but instead told to ‘let nature take its course’ and penalized if discovered assisting.  The association does not focus on what the ducks need to help them survive in this unnatural environment, instead they remove shrubbery, bushes and grasses, foliage needed as habitat, safety, and food sources. Instead of putting up no dumping signs, they allow ducks and ducklings to continually be dumped which prolongs the problem.

The association has never put the Desert Shores wildlife and domestic dumps as a priority; they have shot down the requests from residents to form a waterfowl committee.  This is a community responsibility and residents cannot treat these poor creatures like ornamental decor for people to look at and enjoy, whilst ignoring their basic needs. The association takes their stance that all ducks in this community are wild so therefore they do not own them and they state that the birds have everything they need to survive which is not true as domestic animals require human intervention. They take their stance to let ‘nature’, as unnatural as it is, to take its course. They may not be a cat or dog, but they are still an animal that needs human assistance to survive.

Please sign and let your voice be heard that you will not stand for our feathered friends and others to be treated so terribly and for us to come together and take care of our neighbors with the love and care they deserve because after all, it is our fault they are there.  We will move forward with a plan that allows us to watch over them which means finding ways to manage the speed limits, having funds to ensure vet care for injured or sick wildlife, finding environmentally friendly ways of treating the water, teaching and educating those who visit about wildlife and domesticated animals and feeding them so they are healthy and happy.

Note: if you’d like to contribute financially, please find the link for the gofundme in the update. Please do not donate through this site, the donations only go to the company (Change.org), not to the ducks.