An uncontrollable geese population has prompted a small northern New Jersey town to plan a mass execution of the large waterfowl.
The Peapack and Gladstone Borough Council voted back in March to allow federal officials to euthanize the Canada geese after council members agreed the birds at Liberty Park were a nuisance, WPVI-TV reported.
On Tuesday, a group of residents protested the controversial decision.
"While they are beautiful creatures, unfortunately, they create issues for us with a greater number of fecal matter droppings which pollute our walkways and benches, and also the fecal matter in our pond," Mayor Mark Coriglianom said, according to the station.
Town leaders have given the United States Department of Agriculture permission to collect the geese and kill them with carbon monoxide during "molting season" when birds are unable to fly, according to NJ.com.
Resident Camille DiCarlo told the outlet, "they're going to round up the babies as well."
"It is cruel and inhumane to coral these geese in June when they have no flight feathers and use a barbaric gas chamber method to kill them on an on-site truck. This process can take 15 to 30 minutes to kill - they are terrified and suffer. This is not the way to deter the geese from the pond," Jackie Braun wrote in a change.org petition calling on residents to save the geese.
Councilwoman Jamie Murphy said the town had tried alternative methods to control the geese population, such as deploying the "geese police," who spread organic compounds in the park and chased the birds with dogs and flashlights, but were unsuccessful.
