Home › Forums › West Seattle Rants & Raves › Lincoln Park geese not too much worse for wear
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October 19, 2012 at 6:11 pm #605252
DBPMemberFriday, October 19, 2012
These photos of the LP geese were taken in front of the middle shelter yesterday morning. One of these geese is the same one that was chased and bitten (?) by an off-leash dog two weeks ago.
Lincoln Park ‘resident goose’ attacked by dog, readers report
I’m sure the dog attack was very traumatic for both geese, and it should not have happened. However, as you can see here, the geese seem to be recovering well. There was no obvious physical damage, and they didn’t seem to be any more shy of people or dogs than they usually are.
It made me very glad to see the geese back in the thick of things, but notwithstanding that, I’m still planning on joining with others to pressure the City to keep dogs ON leashes and OFF beaches.
October 19, 2012 at 7:20 pm #774366
SonomaParticipantThanks for the great photos of these beautiful birds. I see them on my walks, too, and they look OK. In addition to emails, are there other ways we can work to ensure dog owners obey the laws? (Besides saying to the dogs, “Where’s your leash, cutie-pie?”)
October 19, 2012 at 7:44 pm #774367
WSratsinacageMemberThanks DBP.
October 19, 2012 at 11:37 pm #774368
wakefloodParticipantGood question, Sonoma. Others of us are trying to sort that out. You can always start by submitting a report of off leash pets you see to the city’s online reporting system.
There’s a Fauntleroy Community Association Board Meeting on Nov. 13 that several of us will be attending to ask the Board’s opinion on how to address what is clearly an out-of-control situation.
At some point, hopefully soon, we’ll have a more specific way to move this forward and we’ll certainly want your input!
Tom
October 20, 2012 at 1:01 am #774369
DBPMemberI’m going to contact the Seal Sitters and ask them to put in an appearance at the FCA meeting. I imagine they’ll have something to say about off-leash dogs on beaches.
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At the FCA meeting, I’m going to recommend that the City launch a campaign to change people’s behavior on this, and that the campaign would include the following three pieces:
1) Education — The City could do press releases and public service announcements to remind people about the off-leash law and to explain why it’s important.
2) Alternatives — Let’s make sure dog owners know where the off-leash parks and dog run beaches are, so they’ll know where they CAN go to have their dogs off leash. At the same time, we can let people know how they can advocate for more off-leash parks if that will help solve the problem.
(I like what happened on another thread where someone came on in good faith and said: “I have dogs and I want to obey the law, but where I can go to have fun with my dogs on the beach?” Several people then came on the thread with info about beaches where it’s legal to have a dog on the beach. That was so great! I would like to see more exchanges like that here on the Blog, and everywhere else.)
3) Enforcement — As a last resort, people should be getting ticketed for having their dogs off leash. Maybe there could be a few weeks of “warning tickets” + education from Animal Control officers to put people on notice. After that, let the ticketing begin in earnest.
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I have no problem with people who wanna confront the off-leashers directly. That helps, but that is not a good option for everyone (including me) and it is not a long-term solution to the problem. To change people’s behavior on this I’m afraid we’re going to need a combination of persuasion and coercion.
October 25, 2012 at 4:15 am #774370
mtnfreakParticipantI had images of badly mauled canada geese.
But wait – those geese aren’t wild! They’re domesticated geese gone feral. We’re getting upset because some off-leash dogs got a hold of a pair of farm geese?
I understand that its not ok to have dogs off leash. Its also not ok to have farm animals roving a city park.
October 25, 2012 at 7:14 pm #774371
wakefloodParticipantIt may not be ok for farm geese to be hanging about the park but nobody’s asked to adopt them that I know of. And it should be noted that they had been spending most of their time down at the Ferry Cove area before the construction started there.
I guess my question is what do you suggest happen with them?
October 25, 2012 at 10:03 pm #774372
anonymeParticipantAs these geese are now feral, they’re really not farm animals any longer – if indeed they ever were. Many bird groups have domesticated members and interbreeding is common. I’ve seen quite a few fancy 4-H varieties of pigeons down at Pike Place Market. Many parks across the country have small flocks of domesticated geese in residence. I don’t think these geese are fair game for off-leash dog attacks merely because they’re not a wild or native species.
October 25, 2012 at 10:18 pm #774373
DBPMemberOK, some news on the FCA board meeting:
7:00 PM Tuesday, November 13
Fauntleroy Schoolhouse Community Center
9131 California Ave SW
I just spoke with the President of FCA and he said FCA would appreciate hearing from anyone who witnessed the goose attacks earlier this month. I’ll also be sending this guy some of my pix of off-leash dogs on the beach.
I contacted the Seal Sitters but they will probably not attend this next FCA board meeting. They would, however, like to attend a future general meeting (sometime in January) on the condition that a representative from Animal Control is there to hear their concerns.
October 26, 2012 at 2:02 pm #774374
hammerheadParticipantThe question was asked several months ago to relocate, Well I have a rescue THAT WILL TAKE THEM NOW. Already ask him he said no problem, but lords knows didn’t want to piss anyone off. Yet if one winds up dead because of an irresponsible dog owner.
Changing peoples mind wont’ work, those people just don’t care.
So if everyone is on board let me know and consider it done.
FCAT/HH
October 26, 2012 at 3:06 pm #774375
wakefloodParticipantThat’s a very reasonable option, hammerhead. I have no idea how one would go about confirming that it’s ok to move them. I suspect it starts with a discussion with the city Animal Control. They probably have to be the ones to capture them, should they be in favor of this plan.
Please keep in mind that the geese are only a part of this story. MANY people are concerned about off leash dogs for other reasons. Attacking seals, other dogs, people, etc. that have been voiced here. Just getting rid of the geese doesn’t address this bigger issue. And they’re not going to be the primary topic at the FCA Board meeting either.
October 26, 2012 at 3:44 pm #774376
DBPMemberHey, I like the geese at LP and so do a lot of other people. They’re not hurting anyone, and besides that, lots of children would be disappointed if they were removed. I certainly hope that will not be the outcome of this thread . . .
Remember: the real problem at LP is not geese but off-leash dogs. This is a problem that can be solved easily, with a little public education and enforcement.
October 26, 2012 at 5:09 pm #774377
SJoyParticipantAnd the geese need to be moved because?
October 26, 2012 at 5:40 pm #774378
wakefloodParticipantI think hammerhead is suggesting that since they’re not wild, they don’t belong in a public park. They’re exposed to potential harm from off leash dogs unnecessarily. That’s my interpretation of what is posted.
I too would rather deal with the core issue (off leash) rather than just one of the symptoms (geese). Hammerhead seems to feel that off leash dogs aren’t going away cuz folks just don’t care to obey the law…
October 26, 2012 at 7:38 pm #774379
SonomaParticipantGood grief! Talk about “good intentions.” This thread started simply with some great photos of the two geese. And, quite simply, Lincoln Park is their home. Several generations have lived there. It’s where they’re comfortable. They seem perfectly content – despite the dogs and other dangers. Why on earth would we even consider uprooting them “for their own good”? As others have noted, the core issue is off-leash dogs, not feral/wild/whatever geese. Moving the geese is about as hare-brained an idea as installing a GoApe zipline.
October 27, 2012 at 12:12 am #774380
hammerheadParticipantYes it is a good intention, but at the same time with all the other threads about stupid “humans” not obeying the law. YES, wakeflood that was all I was trying to do. Seattle animal control will not do anything with the birds, unless one gets killed or hurt badly.
There will never be enough law enforcement. Thank budget cuts for that. The “humans” that do not obey the law, well education is not going to work either.
AGAIN all I was trying to do is protect the birds. I know they are not hurting anyone, as for the kids, well if one is killed that would be just as horrible to tell them. Hopefully one does not get killed. Who cares if they have been there for as long as they have, for the most part, I personally think they are in danger.
I don’t consider my idea half-brained as it was purely from the heart about caring for their safety.
FCAT/HH
October 27, 2012 at 12:52 am #774381
DBPMember► We know your intentions are good, babe.
► No, your idea wasn’t a bad one; you were just trying to help.
► Education is still worth it. You educated me after all. So keep it up! And always remember:
October 27, 2012 at 1:09 am #774382
JanSParticipantoh, heaven forbid we take the geese out of harms way because, because…well, think of the children, they would miss them, or the other human beings who would have less than stellar walks because they couldn’t see the geese. We are so effing selfish sometimes, and makes me wonder who you really care about…the birds or yourselves.
HH was only trying to help…and comparing it to a zipline above was simply idiotic. Off leash selfish humans will always exist. Get over yourselves!
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