Halt the Slaughter of Canada Geese in the U.S.!

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Every summer, PETA’s Wildlife Division is inundated with complaints from citizens all over the country outraged to learn that their city has hired U.S. Department of Agriculture-Wildlife Services (USDA-WS) to round up and slaughter thousands of beautiful Canada geese living in the public parks. In July, when Canada geese shed their feathers and grow new ones (a process known as molting), the birds temporarily lose the ability to fly. It’s during this time of year, when the birds are vulnerable and have no way to flee from danger, that federal agents and wildlife-control operators herd the geese into crates and either gas them or send them to processing plants to be slaughtered and butchered.

Roundups cause immeasurable stress—separating lifetime mates from each other and from their young goslings. Watch footage of USDA-WS rounding up Canada geese.

USDA-WS tries to make the massacre palatable to the public by offering the flesh of the dead geese to homeless shelters, but shelters often refuse to receive the flesh because it has been known to be unsafe for human consumption. Killing the geese will not resolve the perceived problem either—more geese will quickly move in to fill the vacant niche.

Trapping, shooting, or removing individual birds is a shortsighted “solution” to any perceived problem. As long as the areas of concern remain attractive and accessible to these birds, more will move in from surrounding areas to fill the newly vacant niche, resulting in a perpetual, vicious roundup-and-kill cycle. 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 integrated Canada goose management programs using strategies developed by organizations such as the nonprofit Geesepeace, that include public-education programs, habitat-modification strategies, repellents, fencing, frightening devices, and reproductive controls such as egg addling. For more information on these methods and other wildlife-control methods, please visit the “Living in Harmony With Canada Geese and Other Waterfowl” section of HelpingWildlife.com. Given the numerous humane, nonlethal techniques available and the willingness of groups like Geesepeace and others to help cities develop effective goose-control programs free of charge, there’s no reason to carry out cruel roundups every year.

PETA has learned that the following municipalities are planning to round up and kill Canada geese this year. PETA, along with numerous animal groups, has provided city and county officials with information on humane alternatives that they’re currently reviewing, but they have not yet canceled plans to kill the geese this year. Please politely contact these cities and urge them to accept PETA’s offer to work with them to develop a Canada goose-control program that everyone can live with, including the geese. Courteous calls and letters only, please—impolite correspondence will only hurt our efforts to protect these birds:

The Honorable Susan Banovetz
Mayor of Vadnais Heights
800 E. County Road E
Vadnais Heights, MN 55127
651-204-6000
651-204-6100 (fax)
sbanovetz@cityvadnaisheights.com

Scott Walker, County Executive
Milwaukee County
901 N. Ninth St.
Courthouse, Rm. 306
Milwaukee, WI 53233-1458
414-278-4211
414-223-1375 (fax)
CountyExec@milwcnty.com

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