Warning graphic content. Bird carcasses are dumped at the Auckland Council offices in Takapuna as a protest. Video / Supplied
WARNING: Distressing content.
The woman who dumped maggot-infested birds and eels on the tiled foyer of an Auckland Council office said she did so to get action.
Jeanine Oxenius dumped the carcasses of dozens of dead ducks at the Takapuna office of the council. She said she collected the rotting ducks and eels from North Shore ponds over four days.
Oxenius said she had been pushed to breaking point by inaction over sick and dead birds affected by avian botulism.
The Long Bay resident said she was constantly fishing dead birds out of the water, bagging them and calling the council to collect them.
She said the dumped birds were ones the council had neglected to collect from the waterways and parks.
A worker, not employed by Auckland Council, said the other businesses in the building had been forced to close for the day because the stench was overpowering.
Maggot-infested birds and eels were dumped outside the Takapuna office of Auckland Council today. Photo / supplied
"They have closed the place and have to get someone in to fumigate properly because of the maggots.
Last month, Oxenius claimed responsibility for dumping carcasses of dead ducks, eels and rats in playgrounds and parks in Auckland for the same reason.
She said she was expecting a call from police over the latest incident.
"People might say 'oh that's crazy' but where do they think I got all these dead birds from? They were in the ponds.
"It is a gruesome job getting them out but the suffering the birds go through is also gruesome."
Oxenius had about 40 ducks in her care that were in various stages of recovery.
Agnes McCormack, from Auckland Council, said the incident had been reported to police.
"We are appalled to hear that council staff have been confronted in such a distressing way," she said.
"The reception staff at our Takapuna service centre are not responsible for wildlife in Auckland's waterways and confronting them with dead animals is disgusting and insensitive."
McCormack said Auckland Council had two departments which worked to look after more than 4000 parks and reserves in the region.
Healthy Waters is responsible for the maintenance of ponds, wetlands and Community Facilities looks after the maintenance of the parks.
McCormack said it was not possible to have on-site staff so the council relied on members of the public reporting dead birds and wildlife so carcasses could be removed.
The council had a target to respond to all calls relating to avian botulism within 12 hours.
"Our records show that we have received four calls relating to avian botulism in the Torbay/Long Bay area this week and all were responded to within four hours," she said.
Oxenius said that was not correct and the birds were still in bags at the pond after four days.
STOP THE SPREAD OF AVIAN BOTULISM • Don't feed ducks bread, or any other food, it can make them sick and spreads botulism bacteria, •Take sick ducks to the New Zealand Bird Rescue Charitable Trust. •If you find a dead duck, call Auckland Council on 09 301 0101 to report exact time and location.
