Officers with the New York Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) on Long Island were contacted on Saturday, July 30, with a complaint from a Nassau County resident claiming their neighbor was keeping a Canadian Goose in a cage.
The caller told officers they were concerned that the animal did not have enough room to move around and did not have ample food and water, the department said.
When officers arrived at the home, they found the goose in a wire dog crate in the woman's backyard.
The homeowner reportedly told officers that a friend had dropped the animal off after rehabilitating it for a prior injury and that she intended to keep it as a pet.
“(Officer) DeRose advised the woman of New York's regulations against keeping wildlife as pets before removing the goose and ticketing the subject for unlawfully possessing protected wildlife,” DEC said in a statement.
The goose was examined and found to be in good health. It was later released into the wild.
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