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Video of man killing goose sparks outrage online

Debbie Reindl was on her way to buy pet food Wednesday at the Centerton Shopping Center in Mount Laurel when she noticed a bird flopping in a field next to the Costco store.

Debbie Reindl was on her way to buy pet food Wednesday at the Centerton Shopping Center in Mount Laurel when she noticed a bird flopping in a field next to the Costco store.

Reindl, 57, of Mount Laurel, went to investigate and found several geese dead or wounded, and a man armed with a shotgun.

Reindl recorded what followed. She posted the two-minute, 42-second video to Facebook, eliciting cries of outrage and accusations of animal cruelty.

"That is horrible," Reindl is heard saying, her voice shaking, as she records the man with his right foot planted on the wounded, struggling bird's neck.

"It might be horrible," the man replies, keeping his foot on the bird. "It's an unfortunate thing that has to be done."

Police were called to the scene. Reindl said Thursday that they later told her the man appeared to have a valid permit to kill the geese. But, she said, the police took a copy of the video for review by the state Division of Fish and Wildlife to determine whether the way the birds were being killed violated any laws or regulations.

Mount Laurel police said Thursday night that no authorized representative was available to comment.

The man, whose name was being withheld by The Inquirer because he has not been charged with a crime, explains in the video that he was hired by a farmer to get rid of geese on the field.

"I have a federal license to do this. I get asked to do this by the farmers," he said.

Reindl complains that the birds were not being killed swiftly and were suffering as they flopped around on the field.

"That's what they do when they get shot until they bleed out," he responds.

People on Facebook reacted with shock and anger.

"I have no words! I don't see how anyone could have a permit to be cruel to an animal like that," one commenter wrote.

215-854-5983@RobertMoran215