The news last week that the swans — long a tradition in Crescent Park — will not be returning to Moose Jaw tells a sad story of our city.
We are not able to protect some of the weak and vulnerable in our city.
The swans were the only birds in the park with clipped wings, preventing them from flying away when provoked or attacked. Instead, for years, they depended on the kindness of residents who often took them food or, at the very least, respected them and their space. But that ended with what officials believed was an attack on one of the swans that left it with a permanent injury to its wing.
No, you cannot judge an entire city's population by the stupidity of a few. But at the same time, we left those swans vulnerable to the likes of stupidity — we did it, not nature. We wanted the beautiful birds in our park. We enjoyed watching them glide through the water or pose majestically on the shores. But in the end, we could not give them the protection necessary when one takes away an animal's freedom.
As a society, when we chose to render the birds powerless to escape vandals and sick-minded individuals, we became contributors to their fate. It's small comfort now to know that for years and generations of Moose Javians, these beautiful birds survived quite well in our park, taken in for the winter so as not to be forced to face the harsh winters (being as we took away their ability to leave this region for warmer climes).
There were earlier stories of miscreants harassing the birds in the park at night. We had a warning or two. We could have removed the birds who could not protect themselves from the environment before something happened. Or we could have put them in a protective environment during those times we could not protect them (overnight). But we didn't and the damage has now been done. Now we must face the consequences.
There are no swans in Crescent Park now, and there is a chance there never will be again. When we take away an animal's defences, then fail to offer proper protection, we should not be allowed to put that animal in harm's way.
As hard as it is to believes, and as bitter a pill as it is to swallow, we have to accept that our swans are probably better off in Wascana Park in Regina — where fools bent on cruel stupidity have less of a chance to actually harm them.
