44°
The plan was effective March 1 and was scheduled to begin the week of April 15 with egg oiling before the actual culling of the flock this summer. But it has drawn harsh criticism from animal rights activists and the local community for its inhumane methods of controlling the goose population.
The board and the U.S.D.A. decided to move forward with the egg oiling but to have further talks with the U.S.D.A.'s agreement specialist on the remainder of the contract so it excludes any form of euthanization.
Trustee Ilissa Miller made clear that the objective was to mitigate the goose problem and have cleaner fields without the drastic measure of killing.
Egg oiling is a non-lethal method that will reduce the number of eggs that hatch. Egg addling also came up as another potential method.
"While this is not something I agree with 100 percent, it's an approach that the entire board can agree to on a pragmatics basis," said Mamaroneck Mayor Norman Rosenblum. "It's probably the best, most productive way we can go about beginning to eliminate the goose waste."
"I'm happy they're not slaughtering them; I'm thrilled," Kylie Blackman said. "It's looking good. We prefer the oiling, but the addling can produce full-term goslings that are born with mutations. But so far, this is positive compared to where we were before."
"It's just so much better than it was last week -- it was horrendous," Jill Doornick said. "But I'm still working on a proposal with some other residents."
Village Attorney Charles Goldberger will meet with the U.S.D.A. agreement specialist about changing the contract.
Click here to follow Daily Voice Mamaroneck and receive free news updates.
