Another uproar

“Black Swan”: Swan rescuer now faces prison

Animal welfare activist Marina Gruber no longer understands the world: "I, the one who rescued the animal from its plight, was reported. But no one was looking for the animal abusers."

(Bild: zVg)

The furor over the aggressive swan from Zagersdorf, which attacked passers-by last spring and was then released into the wild by an Animal Protection Austria activist, continues. 

Ivan Grujic, mayor of Zagersdorf, is a local politician who puts his money where his mouth is. This applies to the construction of the announced new community pub and allegedly also in relation to threats that have been made. But one thing at a time.

In March of the previous year, a swan that had settled alone on the local fishing pond a year and a half earlier caused a stir. According to local residents and fishermen, the otherwise peaceful water bird, which was fed almost daily by walkers, had turned into an aggressive attacker from one day to the next - similar to the psychological thriller "Black Swan". It bit, nipped and ran after anyone who got too close with its wings spread wide.

Andreas Ranner, zoologist at the Office of the Burgenland Provincial Government, calmed down and explained that with this territorial behavior, the swan was "merely demanding its right to food and was in a hormonal frenzy". For lack of a conspecific, he had made friends with a white muscovy duck.

First his beloved musk duck disappeared, then he disappeared too.

(Bild: Petra Klikovits)

Animal Protection Austria beat the mayor to it
As complaints against the swan were mounting, Mayor Grujic decided to solve the problem by arranging for the feathered villager to be relocated to Lake Neusiedl, where it would continue to live with other swans. But before this could happen, Tierschutz Austria intervened. Austria's largest and oldest animal welfare organization had learned that local children had thrown stones and sticks at the swan and that there were even plans to "shoot and stone" the animal in the community.

The well-known Viennese swan expert Marina Gruber was promptly sent to Zagersdorf with the task of saving the swan. But on the very day that Grujic wanted to give another TV interview about the bird at the pond, Gruber released it into the wild to a safe place on the Danube.

Marina Gruber documented the release of the swan from Zagersdorf with photos and videos.

(Bild: zVg)

Did the head of the village make good on his threat?
"The mayor didn't like my action. In a phone call, he accused me of 'kidnapping' and threatened me that there would be repercussions. I thought that his anger would subside and he would come to his senses, especially as Tierschutz Austria and I had acted in accordance with the Austrian Animal Welfare Act. But instead he contacted Department 4 of the provincial government, which is responsible for nature and climate protection, to file a complaint against me through them," Gruber has known since inspecting the files at the Eisenstadt-Umgebung district authority.

In a "request for justification", she is accused of having acted "not on behalf of the municipality" and "without an exceptional permit from the nature conservation authorities". Recently, the self-taught swan ornithologist, who also works with the Wildlife Aid, the Fisheries Association, the State Office of Criminal Investigation and the water police in Vienna, also received a "penalty notice" from the local authority. In it, she was ordered to pay an administrative fine totaling 396 euros because she had "violated legal provisions relating to the Burgenland Nature Conservation and Landscape Management Act".

Excerpt from the "penalty notice" from the BH

(Bild: Krone KREATIV/Marina Gruber)

Voluntarily behind bars
If she does not appeal within four weeks, she must comply with the demand or serve a substitute custodial sentence of one day and six hours in prison. This is exactly what Gruber now wants to do to set an example and show that animal welfare should be taken seriously: "I have done nothing wrong and will not be intimidated."

Legal expert Michaela Lehner from Tierschutz Austria agrees with her: "We will appeal to the authorities, as the BH's criminal conviction is proof that the wrong person is being prosecuted. The mayor responsible could not be reached by me or our president Madeleine Petrovic at the time, although we called him several times on his cell phone number and also contacted him in writing to inform him of our plans in advance. After he and the authorities were unable to eliminate all threats to the swan's survival, we had to act quickly. After all, there was imminent danger. Instead of imposing a fine, the municipality should rather cover Ms. Gruber's operating costs."

Zagersdorf's mayor Ivan Grujic

(Bild: zVg)

This is the mayor's argument
And what does Mayor Ivan Grujic say about the case? He maintains his innocence and rejects all insinuations: "I neither filed charges against Ms. Gruber myself, nor did I instigate others to do so. Once the swan was gone, the matter was over for me."