University of Miami students call for action after beloved campus duck seen on video being attacked – WSVN 7News | Miami News, Weather, Sports
CORAL GABLES, FLA. (WSVN) – A five-second video caused uproar for animal-loving students on the University of Miami campus when footage captured a fan-favorite duck being attacked.
Student Alexa Wood, who is part of a campus animal advocacy organization UPurr, described the video to 7News.
“The guy turns around and punts it, kicks it and the duck goes away,” she said.
Wood said the incident happened last week, and Friday it began spreading on social media.
She believes the man in the video is a campus employee.
“He has a lanyard with an employee ID, and all the employees have to have their IDs on them,” said Wood.
This wasn’t just any duck, he’s known for being in that area and being friendly with students, who have affectionately given it a name.
“People started calling it ‘Ivan.’ I met it for the first time over here at Starbucks,” said Wood. “Everyone started kind of building an attachment to the duck, and then when that video released, everyone got so mad because it felt like their own pet.”
Later, another photo from the same area of campus surfaced, showing another person grabbing a duck, who many speculate is ‘Ivan,’ by the wings.
“It looked dead, and it had the same exact coloring as the other duck,” said Wood.
It’s unclear whether the duck in the photo and the duck in the video are the same waterfowl. It’s also unclear if the duck was harmed.
Wood and other students reported the incident, and the University of Miami released this statement:
“The University of Miami Police Department, the Department of Facilities and Operations and Human Resources are investigating the two incidents and taking appropriate action. Harming wildlife is a criminal offense and perpetrators will be prosecuted.”
“The worst thing a duck can do to you is peck you, and that wouldn’t even hurt,” said Wood. “I would prefer if the guy got fired, or some type of repercussion, because we cannot have our campus employees treating animals like that.”
Students on campus say they will continue looking for the duck and asking for justice.
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