2 swans found dead in pen at Itasca business park

Two swans were killed, most likely by a coyote or fox, after they were left in an outdoor pen at an Itasca business park.

Cathy Pollack says she was walking her dog about 6:30 a.m. Friday at the Hamilton Lakes business park when she came upon the "horrible" scene. The swans that had been placed in an enclosure next to one of the ponds were brutally attacked, she said.

"I started crying," said Pollack, who lives in Elk Grove Village. "These things didn't have a chance. You can tell they fought for their lives. There were feathers and blood all over. They were massacred."

Pollack, who works as a biologist at the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, said she believes a coyote or fox jumped over the plastic fence and attacked the birds overnight.

Swans typically sleep in the middle of ponds for protection from predators. But Pollack said these couldn't flee to water because they were in the pen and couldn't fly because their wings were clipped.

"They had no fighting chance," she said. "They were like sitting ducks, which is what upsets me."

Calls to Hamilton Partners, which owns the business park, were not returned.

Itasca police said they received a call about the swans, but a report wasn't filed. Security personnel at the business park told police they would take care of it.

Pollack said swans were put in ponds at the business park around the end of April. She said the two that were killed had been in the pen for three or four days, although it's unclear why.

"With all the sadness going around in the times we have, I, nor anyone else in this community, needed to see this first thing in the morning," Pollack said.

She said the decision to pen the swans "most likely (was) caused by someone not knowing what they are doing with these live animals."