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The incident played out in New Haven County on Thursday afternoon, Jan. 18, when Wallingford Animal Control received calls from several residents reporting a dead swan on a pond at Farms Country Club.
Animal control officials then prepared for the depressing task of collecting the deceased bird. However, after extensive talks with Department of Energy and Environmental Protection officials and several licensed wildlife rehabilitators, it was determined that the swan was, in fact, a decoy.
The news meant that the Wallingford Fire Department's Water Rescue Squad, which had assembled in preparation, did not have to venture into the cold pond.
Although animal control officials made light of the situation on social media, they added that they were still glad to receive the calls from residents reporting the swan.
"When you see something that seems 'off', we absolutely want you to contact us. Heck, they looked pretty real to us when we were first arriving on scene," animal control officials wrote.
They also added that they were relieved that they would not have to recover a dead bird.
"Finding out that these were decoys made our day. It's always refreshing when a call comes in and the end doesn't result in an animal suffering," officials wrote.
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