Goose cullings at the Dreiländersee: PETA issues sharp criticism

The advisory board of the Lower Nature Conservation Authority subsequently voted in favour of lifting the exemption from hunting wild birds between 15 January and 15 October of any given year. 

The stated reason is the animals' droppings, which are said to pose a health hazard. 

PETA contacted Mayor Rainer Doetkotte, the Gronau municipal parties, the Lower Nature Conservation Authority of the Borken district, and the Biological Station Zwillbrock last Wednesday, demanding a halt to the culling operations. The city of Gronau (Westf.) is located in the western Münsterland region in the northwest of North Rhine-Westphalia.

In its detailed letter, the animal rights organisation argued, among other things, that no cases are known in which humans have fallen ill as a result of goose droppings. Alternative approaches were proposed to address the alleged problem of geese and their droppings. PETA also views the plans critically from a legal perspective, as the disturbance of bathers by droppings does not constitute a “reasonable cause” for killing animals within the meaning of the Animal Welfare Act.

We see the alleged health hazard as nothing more than a pretext for the city to better justify the senseless and cruel hunt on the wild geese in the public eye. We humans do not live alone in this world and should show tolerance and respect toward our fellow wild creatures, said Peter Höffken, specialist advisor at PETA. Experience from other cities shows that the animals cannot be permanently driven away through killing operations. An attractive area will always draw geese back. An animal-friendly ‘goose management’ approach, which should be developed with the support of experts, has by contrast proven sustainable in many places. Furthermore, goose droppings could be easily removed using special sweeping machines with suction functions.

Killing cannot permanently keep animals away from the area

The fouling of surfaces is not a legitimate reason that justifies killing animals. In Heidelberg, a special droppings-sweeping machine is being used successfully.

Furthermore, hunting is not suited to permanently keeping the animals away from the area. The killing of several geese in Nuremberg and Frankfurt am Main in the summer of 2018 also showed that the approach is unethical and does not represent a solution: the geese continued to regard the area as their habitat and returned.

Experts therefore rely on an effective and animal-friendly “goose management” approach: the affected areas are made unattractive to the geese — supported by animal-friendly deterrent measures — while at the same time suitable alternative spaces are created for the animals.

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