(Photo: A goose who was able to use early power of wing to escape USDA roundup at Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge on July 9th. Photo courtesy of Gateway National Recreation Area and Goosewatch.)
If we can believe USDA, the summer goose roundups for 2012 are over.
They leave (literally) in their wake at least 1,200 gassed and/or slaughtered geese.
It is not clear why 280 photos from the roundup were shared with (27) GooseWatch NYC from Gateway National Recreation Area, but perhaps the reasons don't matter.
The point is we have them and thus there is visual record of the true horrors that occurred at Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge last Monday. Below are just 20 photos from the roundup:
Jamaica Bay "Wildlife Refuge" is actually a 9,000 acre former landfill that although claims are touted for its multi-million dollar "restoration" could not even serve as "refuge" for 751 hapless geese who, while seeking safety during the molt, found brutality and death instead.
It is likely that many of the doomed geese were chased and harassed out of city locations like Prospect Park in Brooklyn (which has had no geese since the beginning of the molt) but in the end, there was no safe place for them.
The number of geese rounded up and killed this summer will be at least double the figure from last year (575) and will probably exceed even those from 2009 and 2010.
Moreover, it is almost certain that the geese rounded up this year suffered even more than those from the past several years.
Crammed 5 to 6 to small turkey crates, the geese were trucked long distance "upstate" to die slow, suffocating deaths in gas chambers (if we are to believe most of the media reports that wrongly report this kind of death as "euthanasia.")
While there are many agencies and individuals responsible for the indefensible carnage, the person's whose face most bears the brand for goose massacre is Senator Kirsten Gillibrand. (D) NY. Even more so incredibly than the USDA who actually carried out the roundups and delivered the geese to their deaths.
But, it was Gillibrand who both crusaded for the extermination and celebrated it.
Putting aside personal feelings that there is something seriously wrong with someone who would demand the slaughter of wildlife and self-congratulate for them, one has to concede that Gillibrand is virtually a shoe-in for re-election this November.
Money, strong political backing and New York being a mostly democratic state, pretty much insure that Gillibrand will keep her senate seat.
But, if that be the case, it is a very unfortunate one.
Because it will show that there is no political price for despicable actions like these that result in large scale suffering and destruction to innocent wildlife.
This is precisely why politicians and other leaders do not take the concerns of animal advocates and protectionists seriously. Because they know there is no political consequence for not only ignoring the concerns, but in fact, torpedoing them.
Torpedoing is exactly what Gillibrand did not only to geese, but to every New Yorker who cares anything about justice to animals and prevention of animal suffering.
Nevertheless, though a time of despair, shock and seeming "failure" for us who fought so long and hard to save NYC geese, there are small glimmers of hope:
* Geese were not targeted in Central Park, Inwood Park and other city park locations where they were vigilantly monitored each morning by dedicated civilians and members of Goosewatch for almost a month. These now very alive geese represent small victory and glimmers of hope. They are among the geese who "got away."
* A few months ago, the Sacramento Bee published a series of articles and an Editorial exposing a federal agency, (USDA Wildlife Services) that has basically run amok:
The series of reports did not include anything about New York City goose roundups. But, perhaps these are grounds for a follow-up investigation by either the guys at the Bee or some other gutsy news agency. Certainly, there are many things that seem "strange" and worth investigating, particularly regarding the roundups at Jamaica Bay.
Among them:
Although more than a dozen newspapers reported the Jamaica Bay goose roundups, there were conflicting accounts of what ultimately happened to the geese. Some media reported the geese as "gassed." Others reported slaughter. Most reported the geese as "euthanized" (which as noted is a total misapplication of the word to these circumstances). One can only surmise from the conflicting accounts that either the media was lazy and incompetent in reporting the story. Or, members of the press were misled or even lied to by the sources they relied upon for information -- primarily, Gillibrand and the USDA.
Perhaps the worst example of the press misreporting or under-reporting facts is the New York Times which reported in a June 28th article by Andy Newman that the USDA "goal" for goose roundups in NYC parks this summer was "400."
Putting aside the nuance of "parks" vs. "Wildlife Refuge," the story was misleading and deceptive. This is especially strange in light of the fact that the Times failed to report the Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge roundup at all and yet it was the first newspaper to break the story of the goose roundup at Prospect Park in 2010. -- A story that ultimately went national in media coverage.
The roundup and slaughter of 751 geese at Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge was a far bigger and newsworthy event than the 368 geese rounded up from Prospect Park in 2010.
What is the real reason for the New York Times to both, under-report and mislead in the coverage of the 2012 NYC goose roundups? One has to wonder if someone of power "got" to the NY Times?
These are the kinds of questions that need to be investigated by a newspaper or media source worth its salt.
The fact that the Sacramento Bee has already broken some ground on USDA Wildlife Services represent glimmers of hope, but it is only a start. One suspects the Bee merely peeled off the tip of the iceberg.
* But, perhaps the greatest glimmers of hope are those few geese who managed by sheer and early vitality of wing to escape the USDA assassins.
Among the 20 disturbing photos contained in the earlier link, there is one of a goose who was able to utilize power of wing to escape and fly into the sun breaking through cloud.
We too have to seek the little bit of sun breaking through dark and ominous cloud. -- PCA
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1 comment:
Very well written Patty, and so sad. While I am happy about the one goose who escaped, all I could think of was how he had lost his whole family. I wish you would submit this segment to any newspaper willing to print it!
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