They are crying birds.
A New Jersey town plans to kill dozens of geese that have turned a public park into their own toilet, despite strong local opposition to what they call an “inhumane” approach to the problem. is standing.
Peapack-Gladstone Borough Council voted in March to hire federal wildlife officials to trap about 60 flightless geese at Liberty Park next month and gas them to death with carbon dioxide. .
The city council said it had done everything possible to get rid of the nuisance geese that had taken up residence in the park and its pond, and “in desperation” it had called in exterminators from the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
“Geese are a challenge for our city,” said Jamie Murphy, councilor and veterinarian. This was stated at the meeting on March 5th. when the vote was taken.
“There’s goose poop everywhere. These toddlers and kids are running around the park,” she continued. “The reality is our park is too small to have this many geese. It’s not good for them. It’s not good for us.”
But dozens of residents showed up to Tuesday’s City Council meeting to protest the mass killing of birds. The birds are a welcome sight for both children and adults at the park, he said.
“Euthanasing geese is not only inhumane, it is the deliberate killing of a creature that experiences fear and pain, it is cruel and alarming,” resident Scarlett Campbell, a councilor, said in a statement. He spoke to the following people.
Another New Jerseyan said he looks forward to hearing the geese every year and watching them hatch and grow.
“Your town will be known as the goose killer,” resident Michaela Walsh said enthusiastically, drawing applause.
“It’s no big deal. Put on your big boy pants, and you can walk in the park with a little poop, and you can survive,” she says. I did.
But town officials said goose droppings contain harmful bacteria that can spread disease and contribute to water quality problems in the park’s ponds.
Mayor Mark Corigliano said New Jersey has an overabundance of birds, and although the district has been dealing with the goose problem for 20 years, there is no long-term solution.
“The District has attempted all reasonable humane efforts to deter these animals from occupying the park. Some have worked temporarily, but we are unable to provide a permanent solution. There is nothing I did.” He spoke at a packed May 14th meeting.
The borough’s unsuccessful attempts to control geese include patrolling with goose police dogs to scare away the birds, spraying organic compounds, which are natural deterrents, and installing special equipment in ponds, town officials said. said. Said.
He said euthanasia of waterfowl was the “best chance of controlling the infestation”, adding that the council was open to other options if it was successful.
Those opposed to sending birds to mobile gas chambers suggested rehoming them, giving them contraceptives, or scaring them away with larger swans.
But not everyone who showed up to council to speak was a Goose supporter.
A woman who lives near the park said the geese hissed at young children and pooped on her driveway and backyard, rendering the park unusable.
Still, nearly 2,000 people signed the petition. online petition We’re trying to save Canada geese from a tragic end.
“It is cruel and inhumane to capture these geese in the coral in June, when they have no flight feathers, and then kill them using barbaric gas chamber methods in trucks on site,” said Jackie, author of the Change.org petition. Mr. Brown wrote. “This process can take him 15 to 30 minutes before killing them. They are frightened and in pain.”
Peapack-Gladstone Borough Council will not become the first New Jersey city to kill geese if it moves forward with a federally approved cull plan.
Spring Lake hired a wildlife contractor to euthanize nearly 50 Canada geese in 2022 because it could no longer maintain population growth. According to NJ.com.
Edgewater town officials decided to stop culling waterfowl in 2017 after receiving backlash for hiring experts from the Department of Agriculture to kill waterfowl for four consecutive years, local newspapers reported. Ta.
