“Parks will declare a moratorium on goose euthanasia
for 2004”
According to documents obtained under the state public
disclosure act, on August 4, 2003, Seattle Parks Superintendent
Ken Bounds and other Parks Waterfowl Management Team members met
and decided that “Parks will declare a moratorium on goose euthanasia
for 2004.” Also present at this meeting were Parks Public Information
Officer Dewey Potter, Resource Conservation Coordinator Barbara
DeCaro and Aquatics Program manager Kathleen Whitman.
In addition, according to the meeting notes, the
Parks Department is pledged to working “on a program of non-lethal
management strategies” to include the use of dogs on public beaches,
increased addling and poop cleanup as well as habitat modification
programs at Gasworks and South Lake Union Parks. Parks is also
considering the use of lasers and feeding deterrents.
Give Geese A Chance applauds the Parks Department’s
decision to institute a moratorium on killing geese in Seattle
Parks. However, the Parks Department decision for a one year moratorium
is completely unacceptable. Give Geese A Chance is demanding a
permanent moratorium on Parks sponsored goose killing.
During the past four years, the Parks Department
and Seattle Mayor Greg Nickels received thousands of telephone
calls, emails and letters condemning the ill-conceived goose killing
program. Sources in the mayor’s office indicated that more public
input was received about this issue that any other in decades.
For the past three years, Give Geese A Chance volunteers
have patrolled city parks to protest and document the goose kills
as well as to alert media. Some volunteers physically interfered
with the kill by chasing geese with sirens or dogs or by jumping
into the lakes to scare geese away.
Both media and police have been critical of United
States Department of Agriculture (USDA) agents use of Seattle police
and Harbor Patrol to close down parks to conduct their activities
without public scrutiny. During the three-year-long protests, no
demonstrators were ever charged with any illegal activity. In the
past year, demonstrations were stepped up to include protests at
Superintendent Ken Bounds’ West Seattle home.
This was a press release sent by Give Geese a Chance
in Seattle Washington. For more information and to help out, contact
Bob Chorush of Give Geese a Chance at bob@wolfenet.com or
go to the website:
