LAKE TANSI, Tenn. — A group of people in the Lake Tansi community are raising concerns after they said a property owner's association there decided to start removing and euthanizing Canadian geese. The association said they needed to euthanize the geese to protect the lake and the homeowners there.
It said it reached out to the U.S. Department of Agriculture to remove the geese and euthanize them. The department said it had to euthanize them, and only relocating them was not an option to get rid of geese.
"Relocation is not an option for several reasons — outside of the molt, geese fly and studies have shown they often return. Additionally, relocating geese and other wildlife is not recommended due to the potential for disease transmission," the department said.
During a meeting with the association, Gail Kunish said she raised her hand to speak on the issue but was ignored. She also said the association did not mention anything about removing geese from Lake Tansi.
"They didn't wait to hear from any of the residents who wanted to speak up for the geese, and they had gone addled and euthanized anyway. I just didn't understand why I didn't get my due process, I just didn't understand it," she said.
She also said the association did not appear to take enough preventative actions before making the decision to kill.
"They put a couple of pin wheels up, they put a couple of coyotes silhouettes up. They didn't do things like spraying with grape-flavored spray or allowing the vegetation to overgrow around the lake that would have made it less attractive for the geese. They didn't do that," she said.
The association released an 11-page document outlining the research and reasoning behind its decision. Most of it discusses the association's efforts to protect lake water from toxins spread through the geese's droppings. It said the USDA takes similar actions in more than 40 lakes a year in East Tennessee and East Kentucky.
It also said efforts like placing pin wheels, shoreline fences and noise makers were not effective in decreasing the geese population. It said in the spring it addled 69 eggs after obtaining a permit.
"We realize some of our members will view this as an undesirable or unnecessary course of action. However, after more than a year of consideration, listening to the many concerns of our residents, consulting with experts in the field, and promoting numerous non-lethal alternatives, this is the decision that has been made," the document said.
The association said it would apply annually for an egg-addling permit unless the goose population decreases significantly.
An online petition to stop geese from being euthanized at Lake Tansi collected 212 signatures as of July 1, around a week after it was started.