After comment from nearly every aldermen and some public disapproval last night, the Galesburg City Council voted 3-4 against implementing a limited hunt at Lake Storey to deal with an overpopulation of Canadian geese that inhabit the area.
Council considered a measure that would have enlisted city staff to eliminate approximately 12 geese in the public park, which would have been used in combination with pyrotechnics and other “scaring” measures.
Ultimately, concerns of inhumanity, safety to the public, and whether or not other options had been considered to the fullest extent were presented as reasons against, while others questioned what legality restricted the hunt.
Parks and Recreation Director Larry Cox tells WGIL, that city administration will now consider other options, however, the cost could be higher.
“We’ll go back and do some more research to see if there are other things we can do that haven’t been tried before,” says Cox. “The big concern is what that is going to cost. We’re in a time when basically we are trying to make cuts to the budget to balance for next year. It’s going to be difficult to add anything.”
Members of the Knox County Humane Society addressed the council, asking them to consider changing the habitat by adding tall grass direct geese away. Cox says the suggestion has been discussed before, but that they will go back and weigh all of the issues.
