THEIR GEESE ARE COOKED??
Shock as Beverly rounds up birds; some feed homeless
It was a picture-perfect day at Beverly’s Lynch Park yesterday, but revelers were crying foul over a mass roundup of a gaggle of Canada geese — even though the slaughtered birds will help feed the homeless.
“For shame. I am very upset. They’re innocent creatures. They’re God’s creatures. They don’t harm anybody. They have every right to be here as we are,” said Anita Findlay, a 71-year-old cashier who visits the seaside park a few times a week.
But city officials say the wild geese are a public health risk and they’ve hired a private organization to capture the birds at city parks, school grounds and playing fields.
On Monday, some geese were captured in a big net.
The birds are then taken to another site, according to a Beverly police press release, where they are “humanely euthanized,” following U.S. Department of Agriculture and state Fisheries and Wildlife regulations and requirements.
“According to the contractor,” the release said, the byproducts “of the animals are often times donated to various organizations in need.”
Beverly Parks and Recreation Director Bruce Doig said the people trapping the geese told him the byproducts “are sent to shelters as needed. As far as I know, it’s not around here at all, because they are based out in western Massachusetts.”
Pine Street Inn spokeswoman Barbara Trevisan said goose is not served at the Boston shelter.
“It’s certainly not something that’s happening here at Pine Street,” Trevisan said. “It’s not something that we’re aware of here.”
At Lynch Park yesterday, at least two dozen geese perused the lush green grounds, leaving droppings in their wake. A goose can poop once every 20 minutes, up to 1 1⁄ pounds a day, according
2 to the police release, and their droppings can contain viruses, bacteria and parasites — which people can inadvertently pick up.
Over the past few years, Doig said, the geese arrive in early to mid-August.
“They are coming down in larger and larger numbers as of this week,” Doig said. “It’s a huge problem. It can be dangerous.”
They’ve looked at different options to get rid of the geese for years, Doig said, such as dog control, but that can be expensive.
The geese were first trapped and euthanized last fall and spring, Doig said, and it worked well.
But the manner ruffled some parkgoers.
“We should just leave them be. They were here before we were,” said Gloucester dad Ryan Dahlmer, who brought his son, Matthew, 5, to the park.
But Rockport mom Brenda Bik said the geese ruin the water and grass.
“I think it’s great,” Bik said, adding, “I just hope the homeless people know they’re getting goose meat.”