Police: Man abandoned van full of ducks in parking lot

Police have charged an Iowa City man with animal neglect after they say he left a U-Haul van full of ducks in a parking lot.

Iowa City police received a call at about 6 p.m. Monday for a bad odor coming from an abandoned U-Haul left in the parking lot of the former Hy-Vee at 1201 North Dodge Street, according to police complaints.

Officers discovered 62 ducks in the van, police said. The ducks were crowded in cages that were stacked on top of each other, and covered in feces and feathers, police said. Nineteen of the ducks were dead and there was no food or water available in the van, according to police.

Police said the ducks were obviously dehydrated, undernourished and had poor plumage. They were seized by Iowa City Animal Control and examined by a veterinarian, who found that they were neglected, according to the complaint. Police say the ducks were offered food and water and they ate voraciously.

Currently, the ducks are in the custody of the Iowa City Animal Care Center, police spokesman Sgt. Scott Gaarde and Animal Services supervisor Liz Ford confirmed.

Francis J. Prohaska, 69, of the 900 block of Spring Ridge Drive in Iowa City, faces an animal neglect charge in the incident. The crime is a simple misdemeanor punishable by up to 30 days in jail.

Gaarde said the incident remains under investigation.

Reach Stephen Gruber-Miller at 319-887-5407 or sgrubermil@press-citizen.com. Follow him at @sgrubermiller