Date
July 25, 2006
Contact
Kristie Phelps
(757) 423-0093
Elliot M. Katz
(415) 388-9641, ext. 225
In Defense of Animals
3010 Kerner Blvd
San Rafael
CA 94901
IDA is an international, California-based animal advocacy organization dedicated to ending the abuse and exploitation of animals by defending their rights, welfare and habitats.
IDA Applauds Lancaster’s Support of Humane Removal of Geese
Group Recognizes City’s Efforts, Offers Assistance with Relocation Program
Lancaster, Pa.—International animal rights organization In Defense of Animals (IDA) sent a letter today to Lancaster Mayor Rick Gray thanking the city for making plans to remove ducks and geese from Long’s Park “in as humane a way as possible” and offering the city assistance in developing an effective and humane goose-control program.
“As you recognize, so long as your community remains appealing and accessible to geese, more will move in from surrounding areas to fill any newly vacant niche that you create,” wrote Elliot M. Katz, DVM, and President of IDA in a letter to Gray. “The only way to effectively and permanently keep waterfowl away from areas where they are not wanted is to make the habitat unattractive or inaccessible to them by implementing an integrated waterfowl-management program, using habitat-modification strategies, repellents, fencing, frightening devices and reproductive controls.”
The letter also refers the Mayor to an organization called GeesePeace, which has helped a number of communities institute humane, non-lethal programs to control goose populations. Several years ago, in response to continual complaints from residents about the local Canada goose population, the Lake Barcroft Property Owners’ Association in Fairfax, Va., employed a 15-point, non-lethal goose-control plan, which includes border collies, addling, the informational web site www.geesepeace.com and a team of local teenagers who keep public areas free of feces. The program was so successful that the founders of GeesePeace were able to convince the Fairfax County Parks Department to adopt the program as well. Now the team travels all over the U.S. to help golf courses, parks departments, and property-owner associations to develop and implement effective, non-lethal waterfowl-control programs.
The Mayor and Board of Trustees of the Village of Scotia, New York recently halted plans to perform a goose cull. Village officials had initially proposed killing 150 (out of approximately 180) geese to reduce the high levels of coli form bacteria found in Collins Lake. Their plan was to secretly capture the geese at an undisclosed date and time, gas them to death and bury their bodies in a mass grave. For the past several weeks, several dozen volunteers calling themselves Save the Geese took turns chasing geese away from Collins Park to prevent authorities from gathering and gassing them the death. This tactic has proven that humane management of the geese is possible by demonstrating that they will avoid inhospitable areas and find someplace else to swim and feed.
For more information on coexisting with wildlife, please visit www.idausa.org/facts/ducks.