COMMERCE TOWNSHIP, Mich. (WXYZ) — There's a push to protect Michigan's Canada goose population from euthanasia by a group of residents from Oakland and Livingston counties. Several people brought the issue to 7 News Detroit's inaugural "Let's Talk" event.
They want the Michigan Department of Natural Resources to stop gassing geese.
"There's no science, there's no Michigan studies and there's no environmental impact study that they've done to even justify the geese being gassed," goose advocate Karen Stamper said.
The Commerce Township resident calls the practice cruel and a horrible way for the species to die an unnatural death.
Larry Carsell, another goose advocate, said "they can hold their breath for a long time. So it takes them a long time to die. It's really inhumane."
He lives on a lake in Hartland and said he goes around the state helping geese that are injured.
"There's a lot of people who really do care about the geese," Carsell said.
According to the DNR, a minimum of 70% of residents in a community must agree for geese to be rounded up and there must be at least 100 geese in that area for the DNR to come out.
But both Stamper and Carsell question how thorough the DNR is in making sure both criteria are met.
"They're using these petitions that people signed like four years ago saying the geese 'may' be killed and not they 'are' going to be killed, and some people were fine because they were getting relocated. But now, they're not," Stamper said.
She suggests a number of non-lethal alternatives. Stamper participated in this recent goose protection webinar where other options were discussed.
7 News Detroit spoke with Michigan DNR wildlife biologist Kaitlyn Barnes. She's an acting waterfowl specialist with the department.
"Starting in 2022, we had high path avian influenza in Michigan and we decided we were going to stop relocating geese because we did not want to be moving potentially sick or diseased geese around the landscape," she said.
Barnes said euthanizing geese is a last resort.
"We very strongly recommend that sites are trying a lot of other non-lethal methods before we get to this point. It's never meant to be the first option. If we do arrive at this last resort, they will be humanely euthanized using American Veterinary Medical Association approved method and that is euthanize using CO2 chambers," she explained.
Stamper said one of her next steps is to reach out to state lawmakers.
