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In a brutal attack captured in broad daylight on video, a 73-year-old Hauppauge woman used a large stick to beat and kill a small duck in a pond behind her home, Suffolk County SPCA Chief Roy Gross said.
Audrey Zabielski is seen in multiple videos — calves-deep in the water at times — slugging the grey and black/brown mallard-type duck with “a hard stick-like object” and pursuing the bird on land and into the pond, Gross said. The duck took blows to its head, neck and body during the deadly assault, he said.
Zabielski, whose back yard borders a golf course, was arrested this weekend and faces an animal cruelty charge in the Aug. 26 attack of the duck, authorities said. Gross noted that her misdemeanor animal cruelty charge would have been elevated to a felony animal cruelty charge if the animal were a cat, dog or other pets that under law are labeled as “companion animals.”
As it stands, the woman faces up to a year in jail if she’s found guilty of the misdemeanor charge.
Zabielski was arrested at 10:30 p.m. Friday in Hauppauge, the SPCA said, two days after the duck beating was reported to authorities. She is scheduled to appear in First District Court in Central Islip on Oct. 3.
The SPCA asked for people who witness an incident of animal cruelty or neglect in Suffolk County to please contact the Suffolk County SPCA at 631.382.7722.
