NJ town proceeds with controversial geese plan, despite protests

🔹 NJ borough deals with problem geese

🔹 Lethal plan upsets some

🔹 Officials say moving geese won’t work

PEAPACK-GLADSTONE — A controversial way to get rid of nuisance Canada geese — rounding them up and killing them with carbon dioxide — has been cleared by borough officials, despite passionate efforts by animal rights advocates to instead move the birds.

On Thursday, the Peapack and Gladstone Borough Council approved a land improvement ordinance that includes $8,760 for “Geese Remediation” under a contract with federal wildlife officials.

Read More: Outrage over NJ town's plans for geese ‘infestation’

Weeks earlier, the Animal Protection League of New Jersey helped mount a grassroots effort against the plan to kill dozens of geese, calling it cruel and inhumane.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services typically carries out such “culling” during early summer, when geese are molting and unable to fly away.

Geese advocates have been attending recent council meetings and rallying at Liberty Park, the spot in the borough where the flock has been living.

Last month, the council agreed to try two additional measures — a geese-repellent product called “Flock Free” and a drone to "rouse and hopefully disburse the flock from the area."

On May 25, a GoFundMe campaign was launched, called "Help Relocate Peapack-Gladstone Geese To Safe Sanctuary."

The fundraiser created by Camille Dicarlo said that if $15,000 could be collected, it would be enough to relocate the flock to the Barnyard Sanctuary in Hope.

However, borough officials said Thursday that the USDA would not allow such relocation, as the geese would just return to the park.

Read More: NJ airport says safety is key, as group protests geese killing 

In a previous joint statement, elected officials in the Somerset County community said the goose population at a local park was an “infestation” that has worn on residents for 20 years.

Another location in the spotlight for euthanizing geese has been Teterboro Airport.

The airport, managed by the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, has an ongoing contract with the USDA-Wildlife Services, which the Animal Protection League of New Jersey wants to see ended.

Removing geese takes on an element of urgency when dealing with planes, according to the airport’s operators.

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