Please, everyone, we must initiate a massive letter-writing campaign to protest this disgraceful massacre.
Here is the letter I wrote to my local council man (Brad Lander):

Dear Mr. Lander,

As a registered nurse, humanitarian, and wildlife rehabilitator, I am shocked that the USDA has rounded up and killed 400 geese and their goslings (babies), who could not even fly, with the totally illogical and paranoid excuse that they might interfere with airplanes.
Firstly, they were resident, not migratory, geese. They stayed in the park throughout the winter. Some of them were known by name to park goers. Beaky, who survived a fishing hook injury to his beak, was thriving, with the help and support of compassionate people.
Target, who was shot in the neck with an arrow by a sadistic person, miraculously survived. The arrow had fallen out, and his wound was healing. He survived a near-deadly injury, only to be rounded up and killed painfully by gassing. It took five minutes for the birds to die.

Some articles referred to the killing as “euthanasia.” This is absolutely incorrect, since that term refers to the act of ending someone’s life painlessly to put them out of their misery. These geese were not miserable. They were proud, happy families with children, who did not pose a threat to a single person. In fact, they brought joy to many park goers, including children and the elderly, some of whom had no other friends or joys in life. Also, death by gassing is tortuous and painful.
This is the epitome of cruelty, and I can’t imagine that it is legal. If it is, the laws must be changed.

As a constituent, I demand to know why the USDA was granted permission to take part in this massacre.
Everyone I know is fuming over this incident. We demand that the people and agencies involved be held accountable.

Rina Deych, RN