Denver Residents Outraged by City Killing Geese to Reduce Poop

More than 130 residents of Denver, CO recently gathered to protest the city’s initiative to slaughter up to 2,200 Canadian Geese who live in local parks. The new tactic under Denver’s Canada Goose Management Program is an effort to reduce the goose population because of the amount of poop they produce, as well as other sanitation concerns and maintenance challenges. Residents called on the city to “immediately stop killing geese in Denver parks,” to use only nonlethal means to reduce goose poop in parks, and for the city to hold a town hall meeting to answer residents’ questions, according to activist group Canada Geese Protection Denver. “I want us to not forget what has motivated us as a group, and that is initially adult and juvenile Canada geese were exterminated and slaughtered without public announcement,” protest organizer Carole Woodall said. “Let’s have a public forum [for] all sides—those who are in favor of the geese and those who aren’t.” According to the Denver Parks and Recreation Department, they have tried other “population management” tactics such as egg oiling (to prevent the eggs from hatching) and hazing. “I really feel bad for the geese,” protester Debra Maslov said. “This is their home as well as our home.”