Death squad silently descends on Prospect Park Brooklyn, slaughter 400 beloved geese- Video

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(Free-Press-Release.com) July 18, 2010 -- They arrived silently on the morning of Thursday, July 8th, while the nearby residents still slept. The timing was perfectly planned in advance. The specialists knew that this was molting season, when the geese had shed their feathers and were unable to fly.

The death squad worked quickly, herding the geese into a fenced-in area. After being trapped, the geese were forced into crates. From there the reports become murky. The crated birds were either brought to a nearby truck, building or facility. What is known is that approximately 400 geese were killed with lethal doses of carbon dioxide.

When the neighborhood park-loving visitors arrived, the area was eerily quiet and lifeless, as one frequent visitor stated to the media, “like the geese were photoshopped out of the picture.” Investigating further, the park regulars discovered feathers and plastic handcuff ties. Demanding answers, information was released that agents of the USDA, hired by the city, rounded up the geese and killed them. What infuriated the activists that later came out in protest against the mass extermination, was the secrecy that cloaked the dirty deed, and the missed opportunity to intervene before the drastic action.

The geese population in the New York area is periodically thinned to increase airplane safety, especially after the famous emergency Hudson River landing by U.S. Airways pilot Chesley Sullenberger after a bird strike. The activists claim that birds strikes are usually caused by migratory birds. The park geese were non-migratory and stayed at home in the park.

But according to an interview in the New York Times with Associate Professor of wildlife sciences at Cornell University, Paul D. Curtis, the professor explained that, “the residents and migrants mix. Local breeding birds fly just as far as the migratory birds.“

Park Administrator Tupper Thomas further infuriated the activists by releasing a statement that the geese had been “euthanized.” According to an interview in the New York Post, Tony Chiappelloni, president of FIDO, a dog owners group consisting of hundreds of park regulars said, “I can’t believe she used the term ‘euthanized.’ Euthanasia is something you do to someone who has a painful, terminal disease and you want to end the pain.

On Saturday evening, about 75 people gathered to hold a vigil for the dead geese. Patrick Kwan, New York State Director of the Humane Society of the United States said, “we have met with the city and the USDA and presented evidence that these slaughters are unnecessary and inhumane, but they refuse to listen. There are better ways, there are humane ways and there are more effective ways to control geese.” It's been reported that the carcasses of the geese will be double bagged and dumped in a landfill.

Among the geese believed to have been exterminated were ‘Beaky,’ a disabled goose with a missing upper beak, and ‘Target,’ a goose that made headlines when someone shot an arrow through its neck. The goose survived the attack. Apparently, it didn’t survive this massacre. A YouTube video of 'Beaky' being hand-fed by a caring park-goer is posted below.
COMPLETE STORY AND VIDEO AT: http://www.examiner.com/x-22880-NY-Cultural-Issues-Examiner~y2010m7d18-Death-squad-silently-descends-on-Prospect-Park-Brooklyn-slaughter-400-beloved-geese-Video