KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The city has a new way to tackle those geese leaving behind their droppings in some of the city’s most popular attractions.
Beware feathered friends. The furry and four-legged “Geese Police” are here.
“That’s what they do. They do. They do a great job at it, and that’s a great name because people remember it,” David Swickard, owner of Geese Police, said.
He said 3-year-old Gayle and three other Border Collies are the possible answer to the city’s goose problem.
The city’s Parks and Recreation Superintendent Forest Decker said the flocks have grown so much over the years, their droppings are taking over KCMO jewels like the J.C. Nichols fountain at Mill Creek Park.
“The last thing we wanted was our beautiful park area being covered with stuff that people don’t like to walk through all the time,” Decker said.
Decker said the city tried goose repellent at first, but that $4,000 plan didn’t budge the birds. The city said for the same money, these highly-trained dogs have been getting the job done since they started policing three weeks ago. This is an eight-week test period for the plan both at the J.C. Nichols Fountain and the Freedom Fountain near the Brush Creek Community Center.
“We’re all here usually three to four times throughout the day, so the main goal is so that the geese perceive our dog as more than one predator threat then they currently have,” Swickard said.
Walk around today and you won’t have to dodge any of those geese droppings, that’s because the geese police say it started working a week after they got the border collies out here.
“You can walk, you can sit down. You can enjoy yourself,” Lisa Carson, a park visitor said. “I wanted to put my grand baby and let her play in the water, run her little hands and she can actually do that now because there’s no droppings anywhere.”
Swickard said forcing the flock out this way is actually the most humane way.
“In actuality, all the dog is trying to do is herd the geese,” he said.
The hope for Swickard and the city, is the geese are landing in less populated areas that will cause no more problems. The city said if this plan continues working, they might use the border collies in other geese hot spots around the city.
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