AR-News: Urgent Update Rikers Island Geese Slaughter Tomorrow

[DTanzer16 at aol.com]

UPDATE:  As of right now, the USDA is not budging on this, and the geese are 
scheduled to be killed tomorrow. CALLS, FAXES, AND EMAILS ARE STILL URGENTLY 
NEEDED!!!
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PLEASE CROSS POST

Forwarded Message: 

Subj:Re: Rikers Island 
Date:6/24/2004 2:53:20 PM Eastern Daylight Time
From:gary at UA4A.org
To:dtanzer16 at aol.com
Sent from the Internet (Details)


E M E R G  E N C Y   A L E R T :  (PLEASE CROSS-POST) 

PLEASE CONTACT NY SENATORS SCHUMER AND CLINTON 
TO SAVE 500 CANADA GEESE FROM EXTERMINATION ON FRIDAY

The USDA's NY State wildlife director Rich Chipman seems to be the sole 
person making the recommendation to the Port Authority of NY/NJ (the operators of 
LaGuardia Airport) to kill 500 Canada geese on nearby Rikers Island. Twice over 
the course of a year Chipman was given another nonlethal solution from 
outside his agency and he rejected it.  

The nonprofit group, GeesePeace, which was formed by a grant from Senator 
Charles Schumer to humanely address goose abatement in NY State, has proposed an 
immediate nonlethal program that would actually provide a long-term solution.  
Chipman admits the act of exterminating this year's crop of geese by his unit 
(who charges the state taxpayers $15,000 for the job) will not stop the geese 
from returning next season.  GeesePeace's solution addresses the entire 
area's goose population humanely and methodically.

The judgment of one bureaucrat at the USDA is the issue here, as it appears 
that Chipman's demand to kill all the birds this year is a missed opportunity 
to create a long-term solution to this problem immediately. This comes after 
his department at the USDA failed at abating the problem for several years in a 
row.

The threat of bird strikes at LaGuardia airport is a real one.  However, Port 
Authority records do not show any more of a threat this year than for the 
past decade, where the goose strikes into airplanes have averaged 1.7 per year 
despite fluctuating goose populations. 

United Action for Animals, the ASPCA and the Fund for Animals attended a 
meeting yesterday with Port Authority, USDA, the City, and GeesePeace to address 
their concerns about USDA's plan.  After GeesePeace made a compelling 
presentation explaining why the USDA's plan was not only inhumane but merely a band-aid 
fix to the problem and USDA's Chipman rejected their offer to work with USDA 
to abate the goose population near the airport, all three humane groups 
condemned USDA's plan as inhumane and unnecessary.

Since USDA is a Federal agency, we now ask citizens to contact the NY Federal 
representatives and demand they intervene to stop this senseless killing.  
You must call, fax and email NOW, as the klll is scheduled for FRIDAY 6/25.

Sen. Chuck Schumer
757 Third Avenue, Suite 17-02, NY, NY 10017
Phone:  (212) 486-4430
Fax: (212) 486-7693
Web email:  http://schumer.senate.gov/webform.html

Sen. Hillary Clinton
780 Third Avenue Suite 2601 NY, NY 10017  
Phone: (212) 688-6262
Fax: (212) 688-7444
Web email:  http://clinton.senate.gov/email_form.html

Congressman Charles Rangel (15th Dist.) 
163 W. 125th Street #737
New York, NY 10027
Phone: (212) 663-3900
Fax:  (212) 663-4277
Email:  rangel at mail.house.gov

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THANK YOU!

United Action for Animals, Inc.
P.O. Box 635 - Lenox Hill Station
New York, NY 10021
Tel 212-249-9178
Fax 212-249-2973
http://www.ua4a.org
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