EDITORIAL

This week a Superior Court judge sentenced a white supremacist gang member from Huntington Beach to two years and eight months in prison for a hate crime. He was accused of spitting on a man in a wheelchair and pushing him into a street light pole. Witnesses were key to the conviction, forcing Ronald Lee Bray to plead guilty.

Once again, witnesses are needed to find out who recently shot a mallard and an Egyptian goose with arrows, seriously wounding the birds. The Wetlands and Wildlife Care Center in Huntington Beach is offering separate $1,000 rewards for information leading to an arrest and conviction of those who shot the arrows.

Authorities do not think the attacks are related. Perhaps some kid with a new bow and arrow was practicing and accidentally struck the goose or the duck. Perhaps it was someone sadistic enough to try to kill a harmless bird just for the thrill of it. It’s horrifying to think what that kind of person would aim for next.

Regardless, it’s important for anyone who knows anything about these attacks to report them to the authorities. Animal control officials said no one saw the duck get shot, but the reward is out there in case someone brags or confesses. If you know anything, it’s imperative that you do the right thing. Call the center at (714) 374-5587.

As sad as these attacks are, we can all at least take solace in the fact that there are so many heroes who have done the right thing, from the witnesses who stepped forward in the case against Bray to the two Good Samaritans who waded into rising water in a drainage ditch to pull off a daring rescue of the wounded duck. And let us not forget the good souls at the Wetlands and Wildlife Care Center who are nursing the wounded animals back to health.