Bristol residents are not on board with the geese problem solution

A gaggle of geese at Veterans' Memorial Boulevard Park. | Laura Bailey

Posted By: Haneen Alkabasi March 20, 2024

By Haneen Alkabasi, TBE intern

Bristol residents stopped on their way into Walmart Monday afternoon said that they are opposed to the use of a goose round-up program to control the geese population on Veteran’s Memorial Boulevard.

Bristol Resident Brittany Wood said she does not love the goose round-up.

“I don’t think it’s appropriate to get rid of the geese,” Brittany Wood said. “You could relocate them to a different area but to exterminate them, I don’t feel is right.”

The Board of Park Commissioners will be discussing the program at its meeting this evening.

The program, to round-up geese, was described by Parks Board chairperson Bob Fiorito on Monday as one that would involve contracting with a company that rounds up the geese and humanely euthanizes them, after which the geese would be used for food.

The plan would require approval from the state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection (DEEP) before being instituted.

Bristol Parks, Recreation, Youth and Community Services superintendent Joshua Medeiros said on Monday that geese management on the Boulevard has been an on-going challenge and a variety of methods have been tried over the years to address the problem.

Medeiros said that he anticipates more discussion and possibly a vote at tonight’s meeting but reiterated that no action would be taken until a plan is developed and adopted by the state.

Mindy Leboy, also a Bristol resident, said she thinks the goose round-up is a terrible idea.

“We do have a problem with geese, but I don’t think killing them is the way to go,” Leboy said.

Leboy said there has to be a more humane way to do it like maybe scaring them away.

“It is inhumane,” Leboy said. “These are just animals trying to live.”

Venessa McCray said the thought is devastating.

“I’m a bird lover and that’s mother nature,” McCray said. “Just don’t feed them.”

McCray said she enjoys visiting the pond with her family to see the geese.

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