CORAL GABLES, FLA. (WSVN) - A man who was caught on camera attacking a beloved duck on the campus of the University of Miami was arrested with a promise to appear before a judge after the video caused an uproar among students.
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. “I rewatched it and was like, ‘No way,’ and then people, they were going , ‘So angry.’ Everyone was like, ‘Oh, my God, like, we need to report this, like what just happened?'”
Wood said the incident happened last week, and the video began to spread quickly among students on social media, Friday.
The beloved duck is normally seen wandering around campus and behaving friendly toward students, with many affectionately naming the bird Ivan.
“People started calling it Ivan, I met it for the first time over here at Starbucks. Everyone started building an attachment to the duck, and then when that video released, people got so mad because it felt like their own pet,” said Wood.
A photo later surfaced showing a person holding up a duck, who many suspect to be Ivan, by its 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 picture is the same as the one shown in the video.
“It’s so sad because, if it was Ivan, because it looks like Ivan, it’s so unfortunate,” said Wood.
Wood and several other animal-loving students reported the incident to campus officials.
The university released a statement regarding the incident:
“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 could probably do to you is peck you, and that wouldn’t even hurt,” said Wood.
Coral Gables Police confirmed the man shown in that video attacking the duck has been arrested and given a promise to appear in court.
A promise to appear is a formal notification ordering the man to appear in court to answer for charges in what’s being considered as a minor offense.
“It’s such an insane thing, and it seems kind of like severe to me, like, ‘Oh, my God, he got arrested,’ but I feel like in the moment, I was like, ‘You know what? I’m glad there’s consequences,’ and that when other people see this, they will know, ‘Oh, I’m not gonna do this because I don’t want that to happen to me,'” said Wood.
Many students, including Wood, said they’re relieved that justice has been served.
“If this was to happen to a human, the severity of the situation would be crazy. If you just see a video of someone kicking someone for no apparent reason, a lot of backlash would fire, so I’m happy that we’re treating animals the same way because they should be treated the same way,” she said.
Authorities have confirmed the individual in the video was not a student at the campus but have not said if they were an employee. As of late Thursday night, they have not released his name or photograph.
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