Oh, what terrible luck to own a duck
In a town with a bureaucrat.
It will stick in his craw if he can't make a law
To regulate things like that.
Those lines, penned in sympathy by a Florida woman, sum up the predicament of Bob Pitcher, 40, who is going to court in the small town of Sandwich, III. to defend his right to own a duck. His prized pet canard, a 2-year-old male Muscovy, ran afowl of a local ordinance that declares it "unlawful to keep within the city limits any sheep, goats, cattle, hogs, chickens, ducks or other such domestic animals." Says Pitcher, not a man to duck the issues, "Any American ought to be able to own a duck."
If his family has to give up "Duck," as the bird is called, Pitcher says, "My dog would be heartbroken." Dog Teddy and Duck are bosom buddies, a bond recently deepened, says Pitcher, when the duck saved his pal's life. Teddy was in danger of being strangled by his snagged choke chain when the otherwise dumb Duck set up a loud hiss that brought help. "If Duck hadn't sounded the alarm, Teddy would have been a goner," says Pitcher.
Unimpressed by such heroics, the city plans to put the case before a jury on February 25. Chief among the complainers is Pitcher's irate neighbor, Nancy Sanders. "I am certainly not pleased about the duck," she has said. "It's pretty big, about the size of a turkey or a goose. And have you ever been chased by a goose?"
Your Reaction
