Citizens Aghast Over Gassing

By The Franklin Lakes Journal

Published: July 7, 2010

The recent gassing of Canadian geese in Bergen County has become a hotter political issue than the economy or illegal immigration…unless you consider the geese illegal immigrants from Canada.

The authorized killing of Canadian Geese in Saddle River County Park has evoked outrage from many residents in Bergen County as being inhumane. Locally, there have even been comparisons to the murder of six million people during the Holocaust in WWII Germany, but other parts of the country are debating the same topic without the wanton comparisons.

New Hampshire recently euthanized geese, as did Oregon where the geese were culled and then butchered for food. New Hampshire residents protesting the killings site the development of lawns over natural bush as the culprit attracting an increasing number of geese. In Oregon, Peter Ewins of the conservation group World Wildlife Fund Canada chimed in from across the border to report that he’s confident the gassing technique is humane. The same debate is held annually in Canada where they also cull the Canadian geese.

The geese situation is getting a closer look in NYC where a flock of Canadian geese were found to have caused the now famous forced landing of an airliner in the Hudson River. This is pitting different government agencies against each other in an effort to protect planes and geese sharing the same airspace.

The first video below, Friends, Foes, and Feces’ is a student film directed by Dave Egner; provided by the Media and Film Department at Kean University. The second video is a very mini-documentary that offers a brief scientific overview of Canadian geese, but readers may find the first video more entertaining.