Charges to be re-filed against woman accused of animal cruelty

WILMINGTON, NC (WWAY) — A woman accused of animal cruelty will once again face charges. The New Hanover County Sheriff’s office says they will re-file charges against Cynthia Huber, the woman accused of hoarding more than 140 ducks.

“They are still my property and I will go to court and fight that,” Huber said.

On Wednesday, the judge dismissed Huber’s animal cruelty charges after the state asked for a motion to continue. The old warrant for Huber’s arrest says the ducks were living in unsanitary and unclean conditions.

“We charged her with cruelty to animals, misuse of 911 and failure to vaccinate,” New Hanover County Sheriff’s Office spokesman Lt. Jerry Brewer said.

SkyWatch Bird Rescue has been caring for the ducks. Founder Amelia Mason says the ducks were anorexic and needed a lot of rehabilitation. She said some had upper respiratory infections, tumors and needed medical care. But Huber says that is impossible.

“There wasn’t a day that went by four years that they weren’t fed and watered and cared for. So the allegations alone are devastating because I know I was here everyday taking care of them,” Huber said.

On April 10, the state gave SkyWatch the authority to make decisions about the ducks. SkyWatch has already spent thousands of dollars caring for the ducks, so they placed them in other shelters to help manage them.

“They were not hers to distribute at the time she distributed. And the New Hanover County wildlife district or whoever gave her permission to do that, did that with my property and my case had not even been heard in court yet,” Huber said.

But the sheriff’s office says she is not getting her ducks back.

“We want to charge her and the DA agrees that we need to charge her. So that’s why we’re charging her again,” Brewer said.

The Sheriff’s office is looking to get the new charges filed in the next few days. As for SkyWatch, they are accepting donations to continue caring for their rescues. To help, click here.