Prospect Park, New York: A Sordid History and Hotbed for Animal Cruelty

(Photo:  Injured swan at Prospect Park, Brooklyn with what appears to be fishing hook and line dangling from underside.) 

During the 1960's and 70's Prospect Park in Brooklyn was known as one of the most dangerous areas in New York City due to various crimes against humans such as muggings, robberies and even murder.

These days, Prospect Park has become the poster child for animal cruelty.

At the break of dawn on July 8th, 2010, agents for the USDA descended upon Prospect Park and rounded up 368 flightless Canada geese and their babies and hauled them off for gassing.

Among the 368 geese sent to their deaths from Prospect Park were "Target" and "Beaky." 

Target and Beaky had previously garnished media attention due to their survival of human caused injury. 

Target had survived an arrow through his neck which he miraculously pulled out himself a week or two after the incident.  Goose With Arrow in Its Neck Gets Free - NYTimes.com   Beaky had survived a twisted beak due to a fishing hook injury.

But, despite their courage, celebrity, and adaptability, neither goose was spared his/her life by either USDA "Wildlife Services" or the Prospect Park Alliance.  

The goose massacre was conducted with full knowledge and permission from the leadership of the Prospect Park Alliance.  

Although Prospect Park officials initially lied to concerned park goers when questioned where all the geese had gone that fateful July morning ("They flew away") two bird knowledgeable individuals knew the geese were flightless during the molt and reported the sudden disappearance to the New York Times which then broke the story and wrote several follow-ups:   .   

http://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/07/17/second-and-third-thoughts-over-killing-of-prospect-park-geese/

But, the extermination of all its park geese is not where cruelty to animals ends in Prospect Park.

In fact, since the horrific 2010 goose massacre at Prospect Park, numerous other incidents of animal cruelty have persistently occurred, most of which garner neither media attention nor any semblance of care on the part of Prospect Park.

These include, but are not limited to numerous fishing hook and line injuries to swans, cormorants, turtles and at least one mallard.  The disposal of slaughtered chicken corpses in the park. And most recently, fishing hook and line injuries to a swan and reportedly a Great Horned Owl.

The photo above of the injured swan (with what appears a hook and dangling fishing line on its underside) was posted on several Facebook sites over the past few days, along with a plea for help for the suffering swan.

This is the response from the Prospect Park Alliance which claims to be "monitoring" the situation:

"Our Natural Resources Crew went out today to take a look, saw the swan swimming and eating and believes it is ok. We will continue to monitor it, but will not try to intervene unless it shows itself to be in a lot more distress. We also notified the Urban Park Rangers and they sent a team out but were unable to catch it. Thank you for letting us know about the swan."

It is no surprise that Urban Park Rangers were unable to rescue the suffering swan. As previously noted, NYC urban rangers are unequipped to rescue any sick or injured bird that is in water.  Rangers are provided with no kayaks or dingys to go on water.  Indeed, they are not even provided with nets suitable for a large bird rescue. 

Apparently, rangers have to wait until a water bird is quite literally dying and "lost its fight" -- and also happens to be swept to land before they are able to secure a rescue.

The Prospect Park Alliance stating it will "not intervene unless the swan shows itself to be in a lot more distress" is undeniable proof of this, as well as it seems to demonstrate an almost callous disregard for animal suffering.

If one's dog was walking around with an imbedded fishing hook and line, the owner would be reported to the SPCA for animal cruelty and neglect (even if not personally causing the injury) and would likely be held criminally responsible.  

Prospect Park is the technical "owner" of the injured swan. For it to claim the swan is not in sufficient "distress" to warrant attention is the height of denial, but seemingly  representative and reflective of the Alliance's long disregard for wildlife and animals in its park.

Even two years following the brutal resident goose extermination from Prospect Park, visiting geese continue to be maligned and harassed in this location.  

This past January,  Prospect Park employed "Goosebusters" to haze visiting migratory geese in the middle of winter. The hazing and harassment continued to the point of visiting NYC geese starting to molt in mid June.  Only a tiny handful of geese remained in Prospect Park through this summer's molting period.   Any number more than a dozen would likely have been subjected to another USDA "cull."

Unlike Central Park which has a fluctuating population of about 25 -30  "resident" geese (who have never been rounded up and killed)  Prospect Park has zero resident geese as they were all exterminated in 2010.   But, even those geese briefly passing through the location are endlessly and needlessly harassed as it is apparent Prospect Park's "tolerance" for resident geese is zero.

But, for those swans, cormorants, turtles and mallards who magically survive at Prospect Park, there is always the danger and threat from illegal barbed hooks, arrows and discarded fishing lines.

Prospect Park's attitude is, they (the animals) are not "distressed" enough to warrant attention or protection.

Barbarity, denial and "murder" never actually left Prospect Park.

They simply changed species. -- PCA

                                                         



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