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CASH Courier > Fall
2002 / Winter 2003 Issue
Selected Articles from our
newsletter
The C.A.S.H. Courier
From the Fall 2002 / Winter 2003 Issue
ASKING THE CLERGY TO CONSIDER ALL OF GOD’S CREATIONS
Dear Father Joe:
I received information that at the 5:15 PM Mass on a Saturday, you made a statement
extolling the beauty of Lake Gleneida, adding a but - "that the geese must
be removed." The following remarks are not meant to condemn
but to provide some alternative perspective, which I hope you will consider and
for us to further discuss.
You privately told me that killing geese is not what you meant, however, the
word "removal" is a synonym for extermination, and unintentionally
you are aiding and abetting those who seek the cover of authority, (religious
authority no less) and are providing euphemisms to rationalize what the Pope
has condemned: "the wanton destruction of wildlife." The Canada
Geese have been a fixture of Lake Gleneida long before you or I ever inhabited
this county and they will remain so. They grace the sunrises and sail into
the sunsets and their care of their young is a joy to children and seniors alike
and a model for parents. That our only response to concerns about geese
is "removal," says more about us than them. The "accidents waiting
to happen" – are not from the geese but from the speeders careening down
the street.
In his wisdom, God ordained that "man should not be alone" not only
in granting a mate but gracing our world with the handiwork of His hands. What
would a lake or any water body be without its waterfowl? Even in Biblical times,
it was of great comfort to Noah when he and his family sighted the fowl of the
air and also in the 20th century when I crossed the Atlantic ocean - the endless
desolation of water never once broken by any living thing, until we reached the
Azores and knew we were not alone. The feeling remains with me even as I write.
I hope you will join me in a non-lethal program of goose reduction. The
object is not extermination, eradication, or removal, but reduction through dissuasion.
I am enclosing an article concerning the torture of Canada goose from New Jersey. We
have countless examples of this and other forms of ghastly horrors against both
wild and tame animals. Violence against animals is the precursor of adult violence
against humans. Pediatric psychologists and criminologists have tracked this
deplorable correlation. In this little corner of the world, Putnam County,
we can model an alternative for our children and that is humane. Yours is a powerful,
influential voice, and the example you set will be followed.
Sincerely,
Ann Fanizzi
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