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"The Edgewater Mayor and Council stated that they will not cancel their contract with the USDA to gas the geese next month," according to a Facebook post by the APL. "It is appalling that they feel this way when they have not implemented the number one solution to deter geese, which is habitat modification.”
Residents spoke out in opposition to the gassing at Monday night's Mayor and Council meeting.
"After leaving the meeting with tears in our eyes and hope in our hearts, we still feel that we will continue to fight," the Facebook post says.
The New Jersey League of Human Voters created a petition demanding that officials break the contract and instead "employ effective nonlethal, humane methods" to treat Edgewater's growing geese problem.
"Since 2013, Edgewater has contracted with USDA’s notorious Wildlife Services to employ nest and egg destruction and to capture, gas, and kill Canada geese," the petition states.
The League suggested the following solutions:
- Habitat modification
- Instituting and enforcing public feeding bans. Feeding the wrong foods can cause permanent angel wing deformities and result in the geese becoming dependent on human‐derived food sources.
- and mechanical scare devices, flags, and noise
Mayor John McPartland did not immediately respond to either an e-mail or phone call to his office Tuesday morning.
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