Geese should not be culled
As for the roads and footpaths in some areas, they are a disgrace and a poor reflection on this city.
Then when they do actually resurface some areas, like part of Lambley Rd, it is not done well. A neighbour asked me if the council had actually finished the job!
Trying to raise concerns with Mr Simpson and Mr Bailey has met with nil response. I wonder how many more ratepayers receive this standard of professionalism while they keep counting our millions.
Unfortunately this behaviour carries on because the council surrounds itself with ‘‘yes ministers’’, ready to defend poor behaviour and respond on its behalf.
Those who ask questions, act independently and expect more for our city are quickly marginalised.
I have read an announcement that Guardians of the Pauatahanui Inlet supported geese controls.
It believes the anecdotal information it possesses indicates the geese are a threat to the ecological balance of the inlet.
Anecdotal information can be misleading. For example, ‘‘a goose eats as much grass as a sheep’’, or ‘‘hordes of black backed gulls fly over the Porirua CBD, dropping bones and condoms’’. Scientific information is preferable. The term ‘‘control’’ has been carefully chosen to lessen public dismay by avoiding the word ‘‘cull’’.
Culling takes place when the water fowl are in moult and unable to fly. They are battered to death or shot when they attempt to defend their young.
The last line of the article I read on the subject said that Guardians of the Pauatahanui Inlet did not hold a view on any specific method of control.
It’s like the washing of hands of Pontius Pilate. It’s so much easier to accept ‘‘control’’ than face up to the reality of ‘‘cull’’.
Canada geese are not on the national list of pests, though land owners may kill them if they are a nuisance. Therefore it is a moral issue.
The sad thing about this problem is that the geese will fly away anyway to seek quiet places to rest when the Transmission Gully road project proceeds, and the big machines are in operation.