Kill in Haste; Repent in Leisure -- (Goose) Egg on Their Faces

More than sixty years ago, Little Rock, Arkansas became the epicenter of conflict over school integration.

 

Now, North Little Rock is fast becoming another battleground of conflict (different city, same state).

 

But, this time the strife and controversy are not about trying to do away with racism and segregation in schools.

 

Rather, some of the good people in Arkansas are attempting to stop the madness and brutality of a proposed goose massacre slated to occur just a few days before Christmas at Burns Park in North Little Rock.

 

In the past two days animal advocates have put up an online petition, (which so far, has garnered more than 500 signatures).  They set up a special FB page  (27) Coalition to Save the Geese of Burns Park and a Twitter account for the Burns Park geese:

 

http://twitter.com/#!/BurnsParkGeese

 

Most of this has been organized by local resident, Desiree Bender, a former staffer for HSUS and member of Call of the Canada Geese FB page.  Call of the Canada Geese page

 

She and others are doing a courageous and incredible job in hastily putting the resistance together.

 

As result of both the brutal and sorrowful plan and the opposition, the issue has so far, generated wide and local media coverage.

 

Of particular interest and response to the media coverage is an insightful comment from a self-described hunter (John Smith Packman):

 

"I have no problems at the thoughts of a dead goose, but as a strong supporter of hunting and hunting rights hope the hunt opponents are successful. This "hunt" is a terrible idea. First, the birds are basically tame and there will be little hunt to it. Second, it could be dangerous to the public. A 3 1/2 inch goose load can travel several hundred feet with the right wind and angle of the gun. Closing the park is irrelevant if the shot can fall outside the park. Lastly and most important to pro-hunters, the hunt could be a media bonanza for anti-hunters. I've killed several Canada geese, and they are not easy to kill. It generally takes a head shot and a skilled wing shooter to make that happen. Cripples are bound to happen with a random drawing that includes novice goose hunters. Cripples that can sail for a mile or more with broken wings and legs to land in someone's front yard or along Interstate 40 and make for some really unsettling YouTube video moments. Either bring in trained sharpshooters or trap them all in a net and wring their fool necks, but whatever you do don't give hunting a black eye."

 

Mr. Packman (assuming that is his right name) is obviously concerned about the reputation of hunters -- not about the welfare of the geese.

 

But, he is smart to think about all this could play out -- not just on YouTube, but local and potentially even national media, a la Prospect Park, NY in 2010.

 

Certainly, a paper similar to the NY Post could have a field day with this one.  Imagine the headlines:

 

"Not So Merry Massacre of North Little Rock Park Geese."  "Holiday Greetings Come in Bullets to Park Geese in North Little Rock."   "No Peace on Earth for Geese of North Little Rock."  "Shooters Come with Gifts of Bullets to Park Geese."  "O Holey Night."  "North Little Rock Decks the Park with Bullets and Bodies." "O Come All Ye Shooters....."

 

The possibilities are indeed endless.

 

It is likely that the North Little Rock City Council members who impulsively voted for this carnage just prior to the holidays did not consider how this could erupt into a national news story. 

 

After all, we hunt, gas and slaughter geese all the time in this country.

 

But, not usually tame geese in a city park two days before Christmas!

 

And not usually migratory geese mingling and wintering with resident geese in December.

 

And not when we've failed to use even one Border Collie to move so-called, "pest" animals.

 

As in Prospect Park in the summer of 2010, (following the massacre of 368 park geese) mothers will again have to scramble for explanation to children who ask, "Mommy, what happened to all the geesies?"

 

Surely, a mother cannot tell her inquisitive and sensitive child on Christmas Day, "The geese were all blown away yesterday by shooters."

 

What if a maimed goose ends up in a family yard on Christmas Day?

 

Talk about "Christmas goose." 

 

And yet, definitely a possibility.

 

I don't believe Little Rock, Arkansas expected to become "infamous" almost 60 years ago.

 

But, it did.

 

Some injustices are just too egregious and off the charts to go down quietly and unnoticed.

 

And brutalizing and killing innocent wildlife in a public park just prior to Christmas (like hurling slurs, threats and curses at innocent children trying to attend school) is one of them.

 

Once again we say, "Arkansas needs to move into the modern century."

 

Some North Little Rock, City Council members truly have goose egg on their faces. 

 

Kill in haste, repent in leisure.   -- PCA

 

 

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