IRVINE, CA — A South Orange County man was charged with felony animal cruelty and attempted animal cruelty for beating a duckling to death and seriously injuring another duckling at an Irvine community pool, prosecutors said Thursday.
71-year-old Randall Lee Bertsch, of Irvine, was charged with two felony counts of animal cruelty, three felony counts of attempted animal cruelty, one misdemeanor count of harassment of animals and five felony enhancements of the personal use of a weapon — a trash bin.
Bertsch faces a maximum sentence of seven years and six months if convicted on all counts.
According to Orange County District Attorney Todd Spitzer, Bertsch was swimming in a community pool in Irvine on May 13 while several other residents were attempting to usher a Mallard mother duck and her 10 ducklings out of the pool by putting them in a small box.
Bertsch is seen on video using a blue recycling trash can to beat the ducklings trapped inside the box before throwing the ducklings in the trash, Spitzer said.
He was also seen hurling the trash bin at the mother duck and other ducklings as they tried to escape, prosecutors said.
Bertsch was arrested this past week in Irvine and was released after posting $20,000.
Currently, he is wanted on a $50,000 arrest warrant after a judge approved a request from Orange County prosecutors asking for increased bail "due to the violence inflicted on the ducklings in an attempt to kill as many as he could," prosecutors said.
"These are gentle creatures who were no threat to anyone or anything and no one will be allowed to inflict such intentional violence on helpless baby animals," Spitzer said. "The Orange County District Attorney’s Office refuses to tolerate the abuse of animals, and anyone who engages in violence against animals will be prosecuted with the full weight of the law."
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