Wife of Anthony Hensley, who died after swan attack, sues employer

THE wife of a man who died after a vicious swan attack is suing his employer and the apartment complex where he looked after the birds.

Cleared ... The UCI has confirmed Australian cyclist Michael Rogers of Tinkoff-Saxo will

THE wife of a man who died after a vicious swan attack two years ago is suing his employer and the apartment complex where he looked after the birds.

Amy Hensley, who contends the swan attack contributed to the drowning of her husband, Anthony Hensley, said the defendants “knew or should have known that mute swans are strongly territorial with a dangerous propensity to attack,” according to the lawsuit cited by the Chicago Tribune.

Anthony Hensley, a father of two, drowned in April 2012 after he fell out of a kayak when a swan attacked at the Bay Colony Pond in Des Plaines, Illinois, where he tended to the birds.

According to reports at the time, the giant swan continued to lunge at him as was dragged underwater by the weight of clothes and heavy boots.

Hensley came up at least once after his kayak tipped in the pond, but by the time dive crews finally pulled him out of the water, more than 30 minutes had passed, witnesses told CBS.

Vicious ... mute swans “attack by smashing at their victims with bony spurs in the wings, accompanied by biting with their large bill,” the lawsuit says.

“They probably thought that he was going too close to their eggs, and they were too scared, and they just attacked him,” eyewitness Daniel Gamanov said.

Ms Hensley’s lawsuit notes that a mute swan — the type used at the pond to keep geese away — “is one of the heaviest flying birds, with males averaging about 24 to 26-pounds (11 to 12 kilograms).”

The birds are also highly aggressive and “attack by smashing at their victims with bony spurs in the wings, accompanied by biting with their large bill,” the suit says.

Ms Hensley’s attorney pointed to the Tribune Illinois’ Animal Control Act which says the owner of an animal that attacks a can be held liable for damages in certain circumstances.

The defendants wouldn’t return requests to comment on the case.