The NJ town that killed 50 geese was right to do so (Opinion)

When are we going to accept that the rights and quality of life of human beings absolutely trump those of animals? And even though you love animals, if you had a choice between a member of your family (human) or member of your family (animal) you would 100% choose the human.

That’s why it blows my mind that when animals cause a quality of life issue for humans in New Jersey, people don’t automatically understand that the human comes first.

For instance, the insane plastic straw debacle that exists in this country for the “benefit” of animals — which is only to the detriment of human beings who just want to use a damn plastic straw.

And so, when Spring Lake and other towns in Monmouth County began to have a real risk to humans with Canada geese feces, they made the decision to have nearly 50 of those geese euthanized, according to NJ.com.

The Canada goose population continues to grow in many Jersey Shore towns and something needed to be done. Finally, when the goose poop began to cause algae blooms in the local waterways and residents started to have a real battle with trying to avoid stepping in it every time they left their homes, Spring Lake did the only logical thing.

They hired a wildlife management company to gather around 50 of the critters and load them into a U-Haul trailer, using dogs to corral them. They were taken to be euthanized on Saturday.

Of course, when photos showed up on the internet, triggered animal wackos started to seethe.

Spring Lake Borough administrator Bryan Dempsey, according to the same NJ.com article, said that if they didn’t begin to control the population there was no telling how out of hand the problem could get.

Anyone who’s ever had to navigate the obstacle course that is goose poop in this state well understands what a problem this is.

There were other ideas tossed around to suggest different, more “humane” ways of controlling the goose problem. All were rejected by Spring Lake for various legitimate reasons— they were ineffective, they were illegal, or they were just plain dumb.

And, obviously, an animal advocacy group, according to the article, has filed and open public records request for more info—. As if they will glean any important information from finding out exactly how the animals were euthanized.

It bears mentioning that I am against animal cruelty in any way shape or form. I also would find the killing of an animal for no reason reprehensible.

But when it comes to “culling the herd” or reducing the population of animals when they become a hazard or a nuisance to human beings, you got to do what you gotta do and Spring Lake had to do something.
Opinions expressed in the post above are those of New Jersey 101.5 talk show host Judi Franco only.

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