480 rescued ducks available for adoption in Riverside County today

A single surrender of 480 ducks has pushed Riverside County’s animal welfare system into emergency mode, raising immediate questions about where the birds came from, who will care for them next and how a backyard-scale operation grew large enough to overwhelm county resources.

The Riverside County Department of Animal Services said it took possession of the ducks on April 14 from a property owner in unincorporated Riverside County after inspectors found overcrowding and improper husbandry. The birds were made available for adoption beginning at 11 a.m. Wednesday at the San Jacinto Valley Animal Campus, 581 S. Grand Ave. in San Jacinto, with adoption fees waived and placements handled on a first-come, first-served basis. Adopters and rescues had to bring their own appropriate carriers.

County officials said animal control officers inspected the property during an ongoing investigation and that the scale of the surrender made long-term shelter care impossible. Dr. Kimberly Youngberg, an assistant director with the department, said the agency could not keep that many ducks for an extended period and had to move quickly to place them with rescues, adopters and organizations willing to help. That urgency reflected the practical limits of county shelter space, staffing and transport capacity when hundreds of birds arrive at once.

Riverside County also said a sample of the birds tested negative for zoonotic infectious diseases through the California Department of Food and Agriculture, easing one immediate public health concern even as welfare questions remained. Dr. Itzel Vizcarra, the department’s chief veterinarian, said conditions like these are commonly seen in birds kept in overcrowded or under-sourced environments. She said poor caretaking, sanitation and a nutritionally complete diet are central to recovery, and the county warned that overcrowding can cause stress, weakened immune function and vitamin A deficiency that can lead to digestive inflammation and secondary illness.

LAist identified the sanctuary founder as Howard Berkowitz, founder and CEO of The Duck Sanctuary in Anza, and reported that he said he had cared for hundreds of ducks, sometimes at his own expense. Berkowitz also said he intended to move many of the birds to Northern California, where he said he was in the process of buying a 160-acre property. By Wednesday, more than 300 ducks had already been adopted by rescues, ranchers and local families, according to KESQ News Channel 3, underscoring how quickly the county had to lean on the wider community to absorb a flock that its own system could not hold.