CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (CBS12) \u2014 Wildlife officials in Florida are investigating a disturbing incident in Brevard County where nearly 50 shorebirds were crushed to death by a truck driver.<\/p>\n
The event, described by rescuers as \u201cextremely cruel,\u201d occurred at Port Canaveral and has sparked outrage among animal welfare advocates.<\/p>\n
According to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC), the birds \u2014 mostly seagulls and other shore species \u2014 were gathered on the ground near a cargo dock when a truck driver allegedly accelerated and ran over the flock. Only one bird survived the ordeal.<\/p>\n
Heather Pepe of Wild Florida Rescue was among the first responders to the scene. \u201cYou don\u2019t have to love wildlife or animals to not be a cruel person,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Pepe described the injuries as \u201cbroken wings, birds crushed, birds killed on impact,\u201d and noted that even seasoned dispatchers were deeply affected.<\/p>\n
Viewer Discretion Advised: Footage from the scene may be disturbing due to its graphic nature.<\/p>\n
The birds were reportedly resting in a parking lot, possibly drinking from a puddle, when the truck struck, according to CNN. Surveillance footage, witness statements, and physical evidence have given investigators a strong lead on a suspect.<\/p>\n
Pepe emphasized the emotional toll of the rescue effort, saying, \u201cWe see their soul. We see their eyes wide open, looking at us for help.\u201d<\/p>\n
See also: Florida Lt. Governor addresses major drug bust in West Palm Beach press conference<\/a><\/p>\n FWC officials are working closely with the Brevard County State Attorney\u2019s Office,which will review the evidence before any charges are filed.<\/p>\n Find more ways to stay up to date with your latest local news. Sign up for our newsletter <\/a>to get the day’s top headlines delivered right to your inbox. Subscribe to our YouTube channel <\/a>for the biggest stories and can’t miss video.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (CBS12) \u2014 Wildlife officials in Florida are investigating a disturbing incident in Brevard County where…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":5947,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[6527,1686,315,28,30,29,667,6526,6525,4624],"class_list":{"0":"post-5946","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-florida","8":"tag-animal-welfare","9":"tag-birds","10":"tag-brevard-county","11":"tag-florida","12":"tag-florida-headlines","13":"tag-florida-news","14":"tag-investigation","15":"tag-shorebirds","16":"tag-truck","17":"tag-wildlife"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5946","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5946"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5946\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5947"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5946"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5946"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5946"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}