End the War on NYC's Canada Geese
Our Goal in 2012
(from June 2012 - info will be archived)
The USDA will be rounding up geese in NYC parks, presumably beginning next week and continuing until the end of July. This was a policy Mayor Mike Bloomberg initiated in 2009, and it has been happening ever since, under the noses of most New Yorkers, buoyed by false justifications and assurances that the process is humane. For three summers this has been happening in our parks with our taxpayer dollars, and not once has our opposition been considered, we've never even been asked for input. It’s our goal to stop these slaughters for good, and we are all trying. But in the meantime, we are faced with reality. We know that the USDA will be coming for hundreds of NYC’s geese this summer. Our goal right now is to photograph the roundups. We want to be able to present images to the general public of what it looks like when federal agents descend into our communities to take out wildlife, so that we can have a real conversation about what is happening, and whether people support such extreme and violent measures with such little just cause. We don’t know when or where... we have some indications based on past year experiences, but no assurances. We have a small window of opportunity to do this, and we need as much help as can be spared. We know photographs alone aren’t going to stop the killings, but without them all we’ll be left with in a month or two are a few pieces of paper from the USDA listing how many geese they killed in each park. Please help us protect our parks if you can, and protect our geese. The time is now.
1. Identify parks where geese are nesting
2. Reach out to the community and find people who live near or within view of a target park who can guard the park between 5am and 10am each day, waiting for
the USDA agents to arrive.
3. When the USDA arrives – with literally one phone call we can disseminate a pre-recorded message to the media and alert our supporters by email and phone –
to witness and photograph the event.
We have a list of over 15 parks in Brooklyn, Manhattan, Bronx, Queens and Staten Island, photographs are posted here.
In the event someone is witness to a roundup, call (567) NY-GOOSE aka 567-694-6673 and we will blast a mass alert out by text, phone and email. If people do respond to this call and can make it to the scene, the only action they are being asked to do is use their cameras and document the roundups and call for more help. Stay calm. We do not advise interference, yelling, spitting or shouting, and if anyone chooses to do so they will probably be on their own – of course we’ll help in any way we can but we can’t guarantee anything. If we capture images, we can present these to the public and media, but we can’t if people get arrested and cameras are confiscated. We also know that in the current climate if we are in the face of law enforcement it’s possible to get arrested whether or not we are doing something illegal.
Please contact legal@goosewatchnyc.com with any questions.
Correspondence with Lee Humberg, USDA
The roundups of Canada geese are financed by taxpayers and conducted by a federal agency in city parks, which are public spaces. We believe that the public has a right to transparency of governmental operations, and at a minimum, to view video documentation of the treatment of Canada geese during the roundups in order judge for themselves whether they support these extreme measures. An observer should be allowed to attend the roundup and removal operations.
In the event someone is witness to a roundup, call (567) NY-GOOSE aka 567-694-6673 and we will blast a mass alert out by text, phone and email. If people do respond to this call and can make it to the scene, the only action they are being asked to do is use their cameras and document the roundups and call for more help. Stay calm. We do not advise interference, yelling, spitting or shouting, and if anyone chooses to do so they will probably be on their own – of course we’ll help in any way we can but we can’t guarantee anything. If we capture images, we can present these to the public and media, but we can’t if people get arrested and cameras are confiscated. We also know that in the current climate if we are in the face of law enforcement it’s possible to get arrested whether or not we are doing something illegal.
Please contact legal@goosewatchnyc.com with any questions.
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