Founder and Ceo of Duck Sanctuary Anza addresses future 

ANZA, Calif. (KESQ)  Howard Berkowitz says he is not an animal hoarder.

But county records, a string of code violations, and his own words tell a more complicated story.

KESQ News Channel 3 spoke exclusively with Berkowitz Tuesday at his current property on Cave Rock Road in Anza where he showed our cameras what he said were approximately 400 remaining birds.

Just one week earlier, Riverside County Department of Animal Services removed nearly 480 birds from his previous property on Bautista Canyon Road, also in Anza, citing overcrowding and improper husbandry.

"I'm done. I'm out. No more sanctuary," Berkowitz told KESQ. "Ultimately it falls on me. I take full responsibility. It happened. I'm sorry that it happened."

But Berkowitz also pushed back on characterizations of neglect, insisting the animals in his care were fed and watered and that he turned animals away when he could not support them.

"I am not a duck hoarder," he said. "I don't go out and solicit for these ducks."

County records obtained by KESQ tell a different story. Riverside County Code Enforcement opened a zoning case at the Bautista Canyon Road property in November 2024, documenting more than 1,000 birds on a 4.78-acre parcel zoned for no more than 20 animals.

Riverside County Department of Animal Services documented 29 separate visits to the Bautista Road property between October 2024 and October 2025. A formal warning was not issued until August 2025, ten months into that process.

In its written response to KESQ, the department said officers "witnessed overcrowding concerns impacting the animals" and were "actively working with the animal owner to gain compliance." The department said its welfare investigation into Berkowitz began in 2022 and has tracked him across four properties.

Berkowitz acknowledged he was overwhelmed. He told KESQ he had given away approximately 500 birds in the period before the county's removal because he could no longer afford to care for them.

"That's why I gave the 500 ducks away," he said. "Because I was overwhelmed. I couldn't afford to spend $300 every day."

Public records show GoFundMe campaigns associated with Berkowitz raised more than $17,000. He told KESQ he also sold personal belongings, including a collection of classic cars, to fund his operation.

Berkowitz said he has hired an attorney and intends to remain at his Cave Rock Road property.

"They can try," he said when asked whether the county could remove his remaining birds. "I've already hired a lawyer."

The Riverside County Department of Animal Services said the investigation remains open.