Last month, a mother duck in an Irvine, California condo community had just hatched 10 ducklings. Hours later, one of those ducklings was dead.

According to prosecutors, 71-year-old Randall Bertsch grabbed several of the newborn ducks near the community pool, placed them in a box, and slammed a blue plastic recycling bin down on top of them. One duckling was killed on impact. Another suffered severe head trauma. Eight ducklings and the mother duck managed to escape.

"They were babies of a mother that had just hatched them that same morning," said neighbor Ninette Infante, who witnessed the aftermath.

Bertsch has been charged with 2 counts of animal cruelty, 3 felony counts of attempted animal cruelty, 1 misdemeanor count of animal harassment, and 5 felony enhancements for weapon use. If convicted on all counts, he faces more than 7 years in jail.

The Orange County District Attorney's Office called the incident "incredibly disturbing." But charges being filed is only the beginning — the justice system needs to follow through.

Animals cannot speak for themselves in a courtroom. The ducklings that were killed and injured that morning had no way to defend themselves. What happened at that community pool was not a misunderstanding or an accident. It was a deliberate act of cruelty against newborn animals, carried out by an adult who knew exactly what he was doing.

Sign this petition to demand that Orange County prosecutors pursue the maximum sentence for Randall Bertsch — and send a clear message that animal cruelty will not be tolerated in California.