Gassing of geese a senseless act

This letter is written in response to the recent apathetic killings of geese (“Lake Stevens geese gassed,” June 28).

My mother is a licensed wildlife caretaker. Her specialty is waterfowl. She receives orphaned and injured fowl to care for from a local veterinarian. At this time of year Canada geese come onto her property, where they are welcomed. This is the molting time for Canada geese and they are unable to fly. They leave shortly after July 4, when they are able to fly again.

However, this time someone took a rabid dislike to the geese and, with the cooperation of an agency called Protecting American Agriculture (funded by our federal government), the geese were rounded up in the early morning hours and gassed to death on the neighbors’ property.

I am, along with many others, heartsick. There are so many horrible things happening on our world today and, yet, for some people it’s not enough. There are animals raised and killed for food and I do love a good steak, but it’s the senseless killing of living things that upsets me. If these geese were being killed to feed the needy, I wouldn’t be writing this letter.

Our federal government cries for money and yet they waste so much of our tax dollars on senseless acts such as gassing Canada geese. Think of the money it cost us – five government-funded vehicles and seven men. That’s my tax dollar being squandered, and yours as well.

Lake Stevens