Eating lunch in the Student Center is a hassle sometimes. There are usually long lines and crowded tables.

Although once you’re done eating, going outside and feeding Cerritos College’s unofficial mascots, the two ducks that live in the fountain, makes lunch a better experience.

Too bad the female half of the twosome is dead.

Last week, Talon Marks received an anonymous letter to the editor stating that the female duck that we had all grown to love, or at least tolerate if you’re not an animal lover, had been found dead in front of the Social Sciences building. Apparently the author of the letter saw the deceased’s body and reported that bloodstains, which aren’t usually associated with a natural death, were on the sidewalk.

How absolutely disgusting and appalling. Not the blood itself, but what the letter implied: that a Cerritos student may have killed an animal, and not just any animal, but one that many students had come to view as a sort of pet.

The ducks had become comfortable with the students, which unfortunately led to the female ducks demise.

The author of the letter also suggested that somebody must of taken advantage of the ducks because they were easy to approach. “Some asshole must have taken advantage of that and gave her a kick.”

To think that somebody got a kick out of torturing and murdering an innocent animal that came to trust and interact with humans is horrible. A person who derives pleasure or fun from murdering innocent animals is a monster and has serious issues.

Those two ducks shared the campus with us. Maybe we could of had a family of ducks, if her life hadn’t been cut short. How cute it would have been to see the mother duck followed by an army of baby ducks.

But too bad that will not happen. Instead, we are left with only one unhappy and lonely duck.

“The last I saw of the male, he was flying from place to place on the campus looking for her,” concluded the anonymous letter.

Animal cruelty is illegal in all 50 states.A link has also been found between animal cruelty and serial killers. The list of serial killers that killed animals before graduating to killing people includes Jeffrey Dommer and Charles Manson.

There will always be people in our society and at our school who think animal cruelty is funny or that it’s just a part of life. For every person that exists that thinks this way, there needs to be two of us who oppose their views. We need to not only oppose that way of thinking, we need to actively act on our views as they are acting on theirs.

The Humane Society of the United States has published a guide of ten steps people can take to help stop animal cruelty.

The first step on the list is tell someone. Animal cruelty should always be reported. Tell the police or a local animal shelter. Just get that animal help before it’s too late!

Get the word out, is another step on the list. Tell your friends, co-workers, family and classmates.

Other steps on the list include, be a responsible pet owner, educate children about how to treat their pets and join the The Humane Society.

For more information about The Humane Society visit www.hsus.org.

Stand up for your beliefs and for the animals so we don’t have to mourn the loss of the second duck as well.