Man accused of stomping on gosling facing animal cruelty charge

A 68-year-old Ottawa man has been charged after allegedly stomping on a newly hatched gosling outside a strip mall in Kanata earlier this week.

Ottawa police said they responded to an animal cruelty call near Hazeldean Mall around 9:20 a.m. Wednesday, the morning following the incident

"It appears that Canada Geese laid eggs in this area, and on May 21st, a suspect stomped on one of the hatched babies," police said on the social media platform X.

On Friday, police said the man has been charged with causing unnecessary pain and suffering to an animal. He's scheduled to appear in court at a later date. Police are not naming the suspect.

According to Janette Niwa, a volunteer with bird rescue group Safe Wings Ottawa, the suspect was "acting erratic" and "bothering" the birds before the incident.

"One of the babies got scared, jumped out of the nest and what I'm told is that [the suspect] stomped on it," she said.

Safe Wings Ottawa was waiting for all the eggs to hatch before moving the family to a safer area. (Joseph Tunney/CBC)

The geese built their nest in a concrete planter in front of a carpet store back in April. Safe Wings Ottawa had been keeping an eye on the family and planned to relocate them to a safer area once all the eggs had hatched.

"Geese, in particular, nest in really weird places," Niwa said.

On Thursday morning the group returned to rescue the rest of the family — the adults and two surviving goslings — and successfully relocated them to "a safe area, a pond out in Kanata," Niwa said.

A nearby business dealt with the dead gosling.

"It's a very sad situation," Niwa said. "It's unusual. We haven't really had a lot like that happen."