Animal cruelty investigators on Long Island are searching for a driver who ran over about a dozen Canada geese under the cover of night this month.
Geese were struck and killed in a commercial area of Hauppauge, a community of about 20,000 residents in western Suffolk County, on at least three occasions between April 4 and 15, the county’s Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals said in a statement.
Security camera footage from a business in the area captured a white S.U.V., believed to be a late-model Jeep Grand Cherokee, racing down a street to run over three geese at around 9:50 p.m. on April 15. Its driver then doubled back to where the birds lay dead and slowed down to observe the carnage before driving away, investigators said.
“For somebody to deliberately go out of their way to hurt an animal, there’s something very wrong,” said Chief Roy Gross of the Suffolk County S.P.C.A., an independent, nonprofit organization.
He estimated that the vehicle reached 50 miles per hour in the episode on April 15.
A person who saw the dead birds alerted a local animal rescue group, which reported it to the S.P.C.A., Chief Gross said.
“These are wild animals, but people care,” he said. “They’re innocent animals.”
The pattern of dead geese being found over several days suggested “intentional and repeated acts of cruelty” to S.P.C.A. investigators, the organization said.
The S.P.C.A. is offering a cash reward of $7,500 for information leading to the arrest of the driver. It increased its initial reward of $2,000 after four animal welfare organizations offered funds to bolster the reward.
The driver could face up to one year in jail and a fine of up to $1,000 for each bird that was killed, according to Chief Gross.
The S.P.C.A. has received some tips since announcing the increased reward on Tuesday, Chief Gross said, adding that the organization has previously investigated a similar case involving cars striking and killing ducks.
Vjosa Isai is a reporter for The Times based in Toronto, where she covers news from across Canada.
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