A spitting controversy furthers animosity towards a wildlife facility in Monroe County.
Earlier this week, we reported about Pocono Wildlife Rehabilitation in Hamilton Township taking part in removing animals from a property in Northampton County.
Now supporters of that property in Upper Mount Bethel are circulating a video on social media the rehab says is damaging their reputation.
The video is a separate issue entirely over an incident that started near Saylors Lake in Saylorsburg back in February. Sick swans were found in the middle of Cherry Valley Road and treated at Pocono Wildlife.
Saylors Lake Resident Martin Gerardo says, "To have them come, not only take the swans but to spit in my neighbor's face and then also come back and threaten to shoot him, and his house."
Gerardo is upset about what he's heard regarding the swans. But officials at Pocono Wildlife Rehabilitation and Education Center tell us that’s just some of the misinformation circulating about the nonprofit, especially the part about threats being made by them.
Pocono Wildlife Co- Executive Director Janine Tancredi says, "The cop came here and spoke to me, they had an idea of who it was, which they wouldn’t tell me. But they were no way shape or form associated with this organization."
Back in February the center took to their Facebook page explaining they had to call police over a man who refused to leave their property after becoming angry over a swan they were treating. He claimed it was his at Saylors Lake. According to the post, a volunteer came across the sick bird lying in the middle of Cherry Valley Road. Shortly after another swan was brought to the facility found in the same manner by a passerby.
Pocono Wildlife Lead Avian Specialist Sampson Metzger explains, "They were at the very end stages of lead poisoning where their organs would’ve started shutting down. It’s a horrible death and he’s claiming to just have left them die a natural death. Lead in no shape or form is a natural death, that’s caused by us, that’s caused by humans."
Now this video has surfaced months later on social media showing a confrontation between the man with the swans and Pocono Wildlife Staff. It shows Tancredi spitting at him.
Tancredi says, "I did not spit at him, I spit at the camera. I know it was extremely unprofessional, I know it was not classy. I know all of those things. When somebody’s in a position that Sampson and I were in, in that moment where we were trapped into a driveway by somebody who has had to be removed from this property prior, somebody who has been following employees around filming them, all of this is documented, there’s evidence that will be submitted at the end of the month. I wasn’t thinking clearly at all."
This all began when Pocono Wildlife responded to a call about an eagle frozen on a nearby pond and were given permission to pull into a private driveway. We’re told the man with the swans blocked them from leaving, got out of the vehicle with a gun on his hip and accused them of trespassing. After trying to defuse the situation, the man continued yelling at them which is not seen in the video.
Metzger says, "It was terrifying what he was doing."
Tancredi is facing a non-traffic citation for the spitting incident. We reached out to the man for comment and did not hear back. But Saylors Lake neighbors are also upset about the swans and just want them back.
Gerardo says, "Well this is all private here. They were actually born on this lake and it was cool to see them, they’re beautiful. And now I’m down to one."
Pocono Wildlife tells us when the swans recovered, they flew away. And even if they didn't, officials wouldn’t have released them back at Saylors Lake.
Tancredi explains, "Why would I take a swan that came off of a pond that is completely infested with lead which is how they got sick and put it back there? It would be like me releasing an animal that came in in a trap back to the area the trap was in. It doesn’t make sense and it’s completely counterproductive to our mission."
The Co-Executive Director is scheduled to appear in court later this month for the spitting incident.
