City plan for geese may endanger people, too

Bentonville city officials are asking the state for a permit to kill geese at the municipal airport because geese pose a safety hazard when they stop at the airport each spring.

It’s true that doing something would be prudent. But shooting them in an area where people live? What if someone doesn’t get the message? Although the officials state the killing is “least expensive and most effective,” I have seen no evidence that a scientific study has been done to consider options. And it seems to me that a shooting spree in a neighborhood each spring is at least as dangerous as the possibility that a goose would interfere with a flight.

Please, people, involve expert ornithologists and make a kinder, safer plan.

JAN VANSCHUYVER Fayetteville