Connecticut Legalizes Slaughter of Canada Geese

by ANC Staff

A new law was passed recently in Connecticut which allows towns and homeowners to apply for, and receive, federal permits to kill the state’s resident Canada geese, by hunting them out of season or by rounding them up for slaughter.

Killing the geese will be legal if the permit applicant can show Connecticut’s Department of Environmental Protection that they have already tried alternative measures to get rid of the geese, such as planting ivy instead of grass, harassing the flocks with lasers, or chasing them away with border collies, with no success.

The law takes effect in October 2003, and will be fully implemented in spring 2004 when the migratory - and better legally protected - geese have flown away, leaving the unprotected resident geese behind.

Killing Canada geese in Connecticut requires a federal permit, according to the Migratory Bird Treaty Act. But 3.5 million Canada geese across the United States are non-migratory, and stay put all year.

For years, Connecticut residents have tried to keep resident goose populations down by "egg-addling" - shaking their eggs to kill the developing embryo inside. Border collies are also frequently used to harass and chase the geese from area to area.

Connecticut residents object to sharing their land with the resident geese primarily because of the volume of droppings they leave - up to a pound per day, per goose.

"They are goose-poop factories," said Denise Savageau, conservation director for Greenwich.

But animal rights activists, such as Gregg Feigelson of the Coalition To Prevent The Destruction of Canada Geese, say the droppings do not threaten the health of the human residents.

"It’s a nuisance but not worthy of wiping out these geese," Feigelson said.

© 2003 Animal News Center, Inc.