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"Not one goose in sight!" remarked a visitor to Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge on Friday, July 10th. Only feathers of the slain drifted forlornly on the sand, giving indication of flightless geese having been recently there.
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Shockingly, stunningly, unbelievably. Yes, there was still another covert Canada goose roundup at the famed wildlife "sanctuary" conducted by USDA Wildlife Services (in collusion with the National Parks Service, the Post Authority and the City of New York) earlier that July morning.
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More than 1500 geese have been captured and sent to slaughter over the past three years, calling into question whether this "refuge" by the bay can rightfully be called a sanctuary at all?
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Of course, the citizens of New York City are intentionally kept in the dark about these wildlife "culls" at a so-called refuge (and other parks throughout the city). There are presently no media reports on it.
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Moreover, if calling or writing officials to raise questions, one is either ignored or answered with ambiguous justifications for the slaughters (most of which are questionable at best, highly exaggerative or downright false at worst). Or, in some cases, the questioner is given vague assurances that such culls are "unlikely" to occur this year due to the low population of geese and before taking lethal actions again, "evaluations" will be conducted.
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The latter of course has turned out to be completely false for the past several years.
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What possible "evaluations" could have been done if relying on the same data from years ago and the same justifications?
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Considering Captain Sullenberger's flight 1549 collided with migratory geese from Labrador, Canada in January of 2009 (geese who had nothing to do with resident New York City geese) why is this incident still dredged up six years later to excuse annual slaughters of flightless, resident geese molting in NYC during the summer?
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Could it be because in those six years since that incident, officials have been unable to come up with anything better as justification to kill hundreds of NYC geese year after year?
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Question: If we know an individual (or officials) are lying to us about one thing, can and should we believe them on anything else? Such question is frequently posed at court trials and the implied answer is usually, "no."
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We don't know how many flightless, doomed geese and goslings were ruthlessly and covertly captured from Jamaica Bay Wildlife "Refuge" this year and sent to their deaths at an upstate slaughter facility. (One observer arrived at the location just as the USDA trucks were pulling out and none of the workers would answer his questions.)
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We do know that at a place referring to itself as a so-called, "refuge," not one goose could be seen on a clear summer day, when normally, there would be many.
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Only the imprints of crates in the sand and tattered feathers remained.
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Wind and waves will eventually whisk away the evidence of evil deeds conducted in secrecy, without the scrutiny and light of public knowledge and input.
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But if there be a merciful God above, He shall not turn blind eye to the sins perpetrated upon His creations nor the false rationalizations used to justify them.
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God after all, granted to the birds of the earth, power to fly great heights so as nearly to touch His hand -- power ironically not granted to those in "His image" without benefit of machine. -PCA
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