A warehouse in Orange County had obtained a late order of balut, a Southeast Asian delicacy of fertilized duck eggs, however now the warehouse had a disaster on its palms: A whole bunch of the eggs had been hatching.
The distributor was racked with indecision. She knew she couldn’t presumably elevate a whole lot of those ducklings that had been meant to be eaten earlier than delivery, however now that they had been out of their shells, it felt immoral to desert them subsequent to the dumpster to die.
So she referred to as round, asking associates and associates of associates in the event that they knew anybody who may be prepared to take the furry creatures. That’s how she landed on The Duck Pond Inc., a waterfowl sanctuary for domesticated birds run by Howard Berkowitz.
New child ducklings from a failed balut order feed inside a child playpen.
(Jireh Deng / Los Angeles Occasions)
“That is the biggest rescue we’ve been concerned with,” Berkowitz stated. When he picked up the newborn waterfowl, he was appalled at their situation, ravenous and dehydrated by the Southern California warmth.
“A few of them that [had] been alive for one, two or three days had zero meals, zero water,” he added. Of the 350 ducklings he retrieved, solely 140 had been efficiently nursed again to well being.
Every week after the rescue, Berkowitz put out a name for foster mother and father to look after the new child geese; by the tip of the day, only some scraggly dozen had been left of the tiny yellow fluffy beings. Berkowitz lifted a duckling up from a playpen that was repurposed right into a duck nursery. It squawked in protest as he cupped it in his palm earlier than stress-free, relenting to his light caress.
Howard “Howie the Duck” Berkowitz is a bespectacled man in his 60s with a salt-and-pepper beard and curly graying hair that pokes out the perimeters of his baseball cap, not not like the flicked feathers of a duck’s tail. A former biochemist and part-time basic automobile mechanic, he spends most of his days now answering pressing requires duck rescues.
Volunteer Valerie Norris holds her foster ducklings.
(Jireh Deng/Los Angeles Occasions)
Berkowitz’s sanctuary, a nonprofit formally often known as the Duck Pond (but in addition because the Duck Sanctuary), is predicated on lower than an acre in rural Winchester in Riverside County. It’s residence to a motley crew of 400 geese, geese and chickens, together with a hybrid goose that belongs to one of many world’s rarest populations of geese, the Hawaiian Nene. Berkowitz has his palms full feeding them every day and ensuring their kiddie swimming pools are changed with clear water each few hours.
He has no youngsters of his personal, he stated, so the geese are his children. “If one thing ever occurs to me,” Berkowitz stated, “I’ve a half one million greenback life insurance coverage coverage [to cover] the duck sanctuary.”
Why does he care so deeply in regards to the plight of those waterfowl? “Birds are utterly completely different,” Berkowitz stated, citing his pet goose, Goosifer, who rides with him within the automobile in every single place. “Once they bond with a human, you truly change into a part of their flock.”
With the newest rescue, Berkowitz stated, he hopes the favorable media protection will elevate his visibility and assist finance his work.
“We’re hoping to both discover some company sponsorship or somebody who’s prepared to write down a examine,” stated Berkowitz.
Berkowitz’s zeal for waterfowl, nonetheless, has detractors together with supporters.
In complete, the Duck Pond hosts 400 everlasting residents, lots of them home nonnative birds deserted by former homeowners.
(Jireh Deng/Los Angeles Occasions)
“I’m truly divorced due to this. My spouse couldn’t deal with the obligations any longer,” Berkowitz stated. “She left me due to the duck sanctuary.”
His operation has additionally drawn the ire of neighbors, who haven’t appreciated the cacophony brought on by a whole lot of geese and geese.
To the informal passerby, this scrappy operation may look disorganized and cluttered. Among the many sights are dozens of Amazon bins haphazardly stacked on a picnic desk and a basket of as soon as contemporary, now rotting peaches that Berkowitz hadn’t managed to feed to his geese. Battalions of flies circle the duck pens. However to Berkowitz the untidy look hasn’t diminished what he sees as high quality care he’s offered to his geese.
“We’ve had animal management referred to as on us a number of instances,” Berkowitz stated. “And animal management comes out and does their due diligence, and we’ve handed each inspection.”
The mess of the duck sanctuary is typically unavoidable. Geese poop in every single place as a result of they’re unattainable to potty prepare — they don’t have sphincters to manage when and the place they defecate.
That cloudy water that the geese swim in, drink from and deal with as a rest room? Not brackish in any respect, in response to Berkowitz, who says the geese dig within the soil for bugs, then convey the grime into the water. Geese, like pigs apparently, love mud. “That’s two-hour-old water.”
Berkowitz has been served discover by Riverside County code enforcement officers twice at two completely different areas that he has introduced an “extreme” variety of animals right into a residential zone. Due to points with neighbors and code enforcement, he’s needed to transfer his unique duck sanctuary from his property a number of instances.
“This man had method too many geese to take correct care of,” stated Mo Middleton, chief animal management officer at Animal Associates of the Valley. She stated the group has Berkowitz on a “Do Not Undertake” listing barring him from taking any extra waterfowl from their shelter. “If we have now geese in right here, we don’t let him take them.”
Every single day Berkowitz feeds his birds 250 kilos of meals, costing him $170 every day.
(Jireh Deng/Los Angeles Occasions)
However Berkowitz is already conscious of the capability points at his present location in a yard volunteered by a Winchester house owner, and he’s within the strategy of promoting his residence to buy 20 acres of land the place his rescues can have a much bigger plot to roam. GoFundMe efforts have raised him greater than $17,000, however Berkowitz stated he wants $200,000 to construct a everlasting residence for his rescues.
“The dream is to have a functioning sanctuary that additionally has an academic middle, the place younger folks can study the best way to respect and deal with animals,” stated the Duck Pond’s Chief Monetary Officer, Tylor Taylor.
Middleton is cautious of rescuers who use the plight of deserted animals for private monetary achieve. Though the IRS acknowledges the Duck Pond as a nonprofit eligible for tax-deductible donations, the group has but to register with the Registry of Charities and Fundarisers maintained by the state legal professional normal’s workplace. In line with the legal professional normal’s workplace, “failing to register could result in penalties, administrative or authorized motion, and the lack of tax exemption standing with the [state] Franchise Tax Board.”
However Taylor stated that so far as he knew, every thing the group is doing is authorized and in compliance with the Inside Income Service guidelines because it first registered as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit two years in the past. He added that the work hasn’t been worthwhile for Berkowitz.
“He has needed to nearly bankrupt himself with a view to hold that place going,” stated Taylor.
In line with Berkowitz, he has been strapped for cash since Day One. On prime of water payments and meals bills of $170 a day, he has a vet invoice of $3,000 to pay. He estimates spending about $1,000 of his personal cash every month on operations that aren’t lined by the donations to his nonprofit. He’s has needed to promote greater than a dozen of his vintage automobiles to proceed funding operations. On the aspect, he stated, he nonetheless restores classic automobiles for the wealthy and well-known, which helps cowl his private bills.
Berkowitz’s companies look like in excessive demand, with almost every single day bringing one other disaster to deal with. However whereas wild care amenities can usually apply for conservation funding such because the California Division of Fish and Wildlife’s Wildlife Rehabilitation Grant Program, Berkowitz’s sanctuary can not.
Berkowitz holds the Egyptian gosling rescued from the golf course.
(Jireh Deng / Los Angeles Occasions)
Debbie McGuire, govt director of the Wetlands and Wildlife Care Middle, stated she has labored with him for 10 years, referring nonnative waterfowl to Berkowitz’s sanctuary. She commends his dedication and can to maintain his operations nearly single-handedly. When she’s visited his sanctuary, she stated, she hasn’t seen any points that will elevate pink flags with animal welfare.
Many duck sanctuaries have tried and failed to remain open, she stated, leaving Berkowitz’s as one of many final left. “I at all times admire those that may hold going.”
Fortunately, Berkowitz stated, the detractors and critics are few, and the assist for his work continues. On $5 Fridays, 50 to 60 folks donate to the Duck Pond. Others have donated meals to the geese; on varied days he will get cabbage, watermelon and strawberries, in addition to worms — a favourite of the waterfowl.
Taylor is simply one of many individuals who initially dropped off a rescued fowl solely to be pulled into the orbit of Berkowitz’s work. No less than a dozen volunteers take turns visiting each week to wash and feed the birds — some driving from so far as West Hollywood for 2 hours simply to assist.
“This place is superb,” stated Bunni Amburgey, who adopted a number of new child ducklings. Amburgey attended junior excessive and highschool with Berkowitz and has recognized him for 45 years; she stated his work comes from a spot of true selflessness. “Are shelters or sanctuary ever excellent?” she requested rhetorically. “No, however at the least have a spot to go to get vet care, get fed, be secure.”
