LANSING, Mich. (Michigan News Source) – Michigan’s Department of Natural Resources (DNR) had big plans this summer with their “Canada Goose Program”: euthanize thousands of Canada geese using portable gas chambers. But after a wave of public outcry and some brutal headlines, the DNR is putting the brakes on its bird-killing program – at least temporarily.
The original plan? Capture and euthanize geese at Belle Isle and other Michigan sites by placing them in portable carbon dioxide chambers – with their dead bodies going to landfills. The rationale was simple: too many geese, too much poop. Their presence has allegedly wreaked havoc on water quality, parks, and delicate suburban sensibilities.
Gas plan backfires, DNR scrambles to clean up Goosegate fallout.
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DNR officials said they were responding to a flood of complaints about aggressive behavior and unsanitary messes left by the geese.
The method of choice – carbon dioxide gas – sparked particular outrage. Critics compared it to a horror scene from a dystopian animal control manual. Many media outlets in Michigan wrote stories about the impending euthanasia, petitions started circulating, and the internet did what it does best: absolutely melt down.
Facing this blowback, the DNR said Friday that the lethal removal program is now “on pause” for this year. The state will re-evaluate and consider “alternative options for managing human-goose conflicts” including habitat modification, elimination of feeding, scare tactics, repellents and nest/egg destruction.
Michigan lawmakers stand up for the geese.
DNR Director Scott Bowen, a member of Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s administration, announced the decision in a May 9 response letter to Michigan lawmakers. The move came after Sen. Dayna Polehanki (D-Livonia) and 11 other lawmakers sent a letter in April urging the DNR to rethink the capture and euthanasia plan because it was a “disproportionate, inhumane response.”
The lawmakers said in the letter, “This policy violates the very principles of ethical wildlife stewardship that should guide wildlife management in our state and devalues life in our shared ecosystems. The mission of the Dept. of Natural Resources’ (DNR) Wildlife Division is to ‘enhance, restore, and conserve the state’s wildlife resources, natural communities and ecosystems for the benefit of current and future generations.”
The lawmakers went on to say, ”That mission cannot coexist with a policy that relies on inhumane killing, nor can it coexist with a disregard for the voices of Michiganders like me who oppose the gassing of geese due to nuisance complaints.”
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The letter was likely a result of animal welfare groups like In Defense of Animals encouraging residents to write to their representatives about the issue. The organization says, “Michiganders have the power to stand up for geese and demand ethical, non-lethal management solutions in their own communities.”
DNR ducks for cover after goose gassing plan lays an egg.
The pause affects sites across Michigan, but especially Belle Isle, an 982-acre island park located close to downtown Detroit, where city and state officials have spent years trying to balance natural beauty with public use. It turns out, unleashing government-sanctioned goose genocide wasn’t the harmonious solution some folks hoped for.
Saved – for now.
Meanwhile, the geese? They’ll continue waddling across paths, blocking traffic like tiny feathered protesters, blissfully unaware that bureaucracy – and a very angry internet – just saved their necks.
For now, the gas is off, the geese are safe, and Michigan’s wildlife drama has taken a less dystopian turn. But don’t count your goslings before they hatch – this flock fight might not be over yet.
