Animal Defenders of Westchester

lion baby

Home Page
Action Alerts
Articles
Campaigns
Events
Westchester4Geese
How Can I Help?
Letters
Press Releases
Who We Are
Links

We advocate on all animal protection and exploitation issues, including experimentation, factory farming, rodeos, breeders and traveling animal acts.

Animal Defenders of Westchester
P.O. Box 205
Yonkers, NY 10704

Press Release

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

March 29, 2013

CONTACT:
Kiley Blackman  
[email protected]
www.adow.org   

GOOSEBUMPS! MILLER GOES ROGUE, DEFINES POLITICS IN MAMK; SCARSDALE SIGNS GEESEBUSTERS

WESTCHESTER COUNTY, NY March 29, 2013    In a move straight out of 'Mr. Smith Goes to Washington,'  Mamaroneck Trustee Ilissa Miller defied convention and a despotic mayor on 3/27, to politely demand that Mamaroneck's existing contract with the USDA to kill their geese residents be immediately cancelled, and that the Board 'start over' by looking at alternatives to slaughter.  
 
As reported in THE JOURNAL NEWS,  a routine Board of Trustees meeting on 3/27 was thrown into chaos when Miller spoke out toward the end of their meeting, while they listened seemingly nonchalantly to impassioned speeches about why the geese should not be killed - in addition to other agenda items such as alternate side parking and presentations from a Sandy-relief counselor, a local furniture restorer, and a vote on an official declaration of 'Autism Day' in Mamk.  As these items neared completion, Miller politely requested to speak - and stunned the mayor and audience by making a motion to terminate the existing USDA contract with Mamk to kill geese beginning early May, elaborating about the Board's need to explore alternatives to this needless killing.  Mayor Rosenblum attempted to silence Miller a number of times, but Miller persisted.  
 
Then, 'out of the blue,' Trustee Andres Bermudez Hallstrom seconded Miller's motion - with an ensuing heated debate over how and if the contract could be terminated... till finally an 'Executive meeting' was called in private, including the village attorney, while the entire board and Mayor retired to speak behind closed doors.   When the Board and Mayor returned to the meeting, they announced that this issue would be discussed on Monday, April 1, when the USDA is scheduled to speak at a work session of the Board of Trustees - the 'issue' being requesting the USDA use an 'alternative method' beside slaughter - though that is exactly what the USDA does, and is the only thing they are retained for.  
 
In other breaking news, the Village of Scarsdale has decided to stop all contact with the USDA and, by unanimous vote, agreed to contract with Geesebusters, a humane alternative to slaughter which uses a robotic predator as a deterrent.  This decision is applauded by both animal advocates and concerned residents in the community who were vocal about the message the slaughter of the geese would send to their children and to the world about what Scarsdale stands for.
 
Kiley Blackman, spokesperson for Animal Defenders of Westchester, which spearheaded the efforts in both Scarsdale and Mamaroneck against killing the geese, said,  'What Ilissa Miller did was a defining moment in politics, unlike anything I've ever seen before.  To not only passionately stand up for what she believes because she could no longer be silent...but to do in in the face of the iron-handed  repeatedly-stated opposition of the mayor, was breathtaking and admirable for many reasons. Common decency and integrity have two heroes today:  Ilisa Miller and the Village of Scarsdale, both of whom represent the political landscape could be and should be, with honest, courageous, enterprising people at the helm.'

Your comments and inquiries are welcome


This site is hosted and maintained by:
The Mary T. and Frank L. Hoffman Family Foundation
Thank you for visiting all-creatures.org.


Since date.gif (991 bytes)