In Mamaroneck: 'Don't Kill the Geese!'

The controversy over the planned slaughter of Canada Geese in the Village of Mamaroneck continues.  

Wednesday night, people from both near and far came to the Board of Trustees meeting to petition village officials to consider alternative options to the one proposed by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA).

The slaughter is slated to take place this summer, during molting season, when the geese are flightless. The speakers were limited to one minute of talk time, at which time a buzzer sounded and the next name on the list was called.

Nancy Cullen, a Mamaroneck resident, implored the board to reconsider. 

"I'm appalled at the idea of killing any animal just for being who and what it is and I beg you not to go through with it," she said to applause from the audience.

Jesse Lipscher, a resident of Orienta in an area that abuts Harbor Island Park, suggested that the village consider humane alternatives to goose culling, such as having leashed dogs chase geese. Kate Murphy of Larchmont said the village should prevent people from feeding geese in areas where they congregate. 

Kimberly Gold, a Scarsdale resident, brought a signed letter from several Mamaroneck residents who she said were opposed to the goose slaughter.  

Referencing the 2012 slaughter of 500 geese at Sprain Lake Golf Course in Yonkers, Gold said it was unlikely that the herd were killed mercifully after they were sent to Kroll Farm in upstate New York.

"We're left to use our imagination as to how over 500 large birds were killed by seven men in under four hours—it must have been a grisly blood bath," she said.

Others said the killings would send children a conflicted message.

Lorraine Izzo, a wildlife rehabilitator and Bronxville resident, said, "You are sending a message, especially to impressionable children, that when something gets in the way, we exterminate it."

A Brooklyn man compared the gassing of geese to the Holocaust. 

"Now you've hired an organization that uses the same kind of gas, Zyklon B, that Hitler used on the Jews. That's the ugly truth," he said.

One lone dissenter, Walter Rogers—a former village trustee and longtime Mamaroneck resident—was heckled by the audience as he spoke to the board.

"I congratulate you for what you're doing," he said, pointing to the plethora of goose waste that his children, and now grandchildren, had to contend with when they played in local parks.

"Feed the hungry in Africa," he said.

From the audience, one woman shouted, "Clean up the goose s***. How about that idea?"

The audience applauded.

The board moved on to other matters upon the conclusion of the public comments period.