Goose dies after being found shot with arrow; Irvine police ask for public's help in investigation

IRVINE, Calif. (KABC) -- It's a picture of a harmless Egyptian goose that stirs up a lot emotions for animal lovers when you look closely.

The bird is pictured with a bright green arrow sticking out of its torso.

Debbie McGuire, executive director of Wetlands & Wildlife Care Center said, "Some of these geese and ducks in the parks are habituated to people so they don't always flee which they should and people can get people close to them and if they have a weapon and they can get them at point blank range so it's pretty sad."

Irvine Police said the goose was spotted on Dec. 28 near College Park Elementary School.

Irvine Police Sgt. Karie Davies said, "Animal Services officers went there, located the goose, saw that it needed immediate medical attention, picked the goose up, put it in the van and on the way to get medical attention unfortunately the goose passed away."

The Irvine Police Department wants to find out what happened but suspect the animal was targeted.

"You have to pull back on the tension to actually basically activate the trigger and then you point it in the direction of whatever it is you're trying to shoot," Sgt. Davies said.

McGuire said cases like this one aren't rare.

"Usually around the holidays unfortunately we tend to get a lot more cases like that," she said.

Also, Davies added, "This happened three days after Christmas so whether it's someone who just got a new holiday item or whether it's a kid or an adult, doesn't matter, we just want to know what happened."

Authorities wants anyone with any information on this incident to come forward.

Davies said if a person is found responsible they could face misdemeanor or felony animal cruelty charges.