Overview
- Newhouse Wildlife Rescue captured the duck and removed a crossbow bolt from its bill, then returned the bird to its pond after an overnight check.
- Rescuers said the injury was superficial, passing near the nostrils in a way that did not impede breathing or eating.
- Neighbors who know the duck as Horace spotted the wound, alerted the rescue group, and kept watch until teams arrived with nets and remote-control boats.
- Salem police were notified, and Massachusetts environmental police opened an investigation to identify who fired the bolt.
- PETA offered a reward for information, and rescuers said the duck’s possible mallard–domestic hybrid status does not reduce the seriousness of the harm.