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Westchester4Geese
Animal Lovers Ask Westchester to Spare Geese from future Mass
Killings NY
Newsday - 20 Feb 2013 The controversy began last summer when Westchester offcials euthanized
hundreds of geese. Westchester County officials told
animal advocates Wednesday that the July 2012 decision to kill hundreds of
geese at a county-owned golf course likely would not be repeated. The move, in
which county Parks Department workers rounded up 500 geese from a Yonkers golf
course and sent the meat to a food processing plant to be turned into goose
burgers that were fed to the poor, was roundly criticized by some animal and
nature lovers. Officials said Wednesday that it had effectively reduced the
population of the birds, which were overrunning the Sprain Lake Golf Course. "If we need to do it again, we will consider it, but it will be the end of
looking at every other means," said Westchester County Deputy Parks
Commissioner Peter Tartaglia after a Wednesday morning chat between county
Parks Department officials at their Ardsley offices and half a dozen
concerned animal lovers. Advocate Kiley
Blackman, who praised county officials for "very graciously" setting up the
closed-door meeting at her request, said she was "satisfied" that a dialogue
was under way. "We would like to be included more, and this will be an
ongoing exchange," she said. Last summer's goose kill was authorized by
the U.S.
Department of Agriculture. It took place in July while the geese were
molting, making it easier to catch the birds as they cannot fly while
shedding their feathers. For humans to capture and destroy the birds
while they are so defenseless is "inhumane," said Loraine Izzo, who is a
wildlife rehabilitator licensed by the state and federal government to help
rescue and care for wounded woodland animals. "The meeting was productive,
and the county is open to our suggestions," said Izzo, who wants more
alternatives posted on the county website to educate other communities on
alternatives. "If Westchester County ends up resorting to lethal methods,
other municipalities may follow suit," she said. Scarsdale considered
taking similar steps, but village leaders recently backed down after the
response at public hearings. Scarsdale resident Kimberly Gold said she was
"outraged" by the suggestion of culling and felt it was important to attend
the Wednesday county meeting. "One of the reasons I moved here from New York City was to see hawks and
nature," she said. "If we just started to get rid of everything that
inconvenienced us, for me, it would be unlivable." Both sides said they discussed alternative methods, many of which had
been tried at Sprain Lake Golf Course. In the past, the county had tried
rubbing oil on goose eggs to stop them from hatching, renting border collies
to chase the birds away and installing fake coyotes and real humans to chase
the geese. So far, the most promising solution has been a battery-powered,
$2,500 Goosinator, a machine that last fall proved effective in shooing the
annoying fowl off the greens and into nearby ponds. Tartaglia said the Goosinator will be hauled out again in March. See more about
Westchester4Geese |
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