from KC News
Waikanae residents took cover last Saturday night when a stray bullet hit the side of their house. The incident occurred around 10pm when contractors were out shooting Canada Geese at Otaraua Park on the south side of the Waikanae River.
The 15 minute cull left the family shaken as they had not been expecting the cull and certainly weren’t expecting bullets to hit their house – a bullet hole hit a ranch slider, shattering glass.
The Waikanae property was hit during the cull of Canada Geese organised by the Kapiti Coast District Council.
The residents called police and the shooting was still happening when police arrived at the scene. Police have said the incident would be treated as a workplace accident.
Mike Mendonca, Kapiti Coast District Council group manager place and space, confirmed the firearm incident and says it happened in a remote area of Otaraua Park while carrying out routine Canada geese population control.
That is the most sickening, cruel, primitive brain, senseless act! Those magnificent birds could have been relocated. Hope all involved have had their death shots and boosters. Karma.
I take it you are a bit of a greenie! Canadian geese may look a nice bird but they breed in massive numbers polluting water ways and desecrating farmer’s pastures by their excretion and grazing off all the grass. The house was never hit by a bullet! as shotguns were used and the impact on the ranch slider would have been from a stray steel pellet as the green brigade banned lead pellets in use of shotgun shells some years ago.
What an incredulously simplistic assumption. No I most definitely am not a “bit of a greenie”. Look at all the harm they continue to inflict. What I object to is inhumane wanton cruelty to animals – especially a primitive brain mentality of “kill anything that is of annoyance” – regardless of where a species sits in the overall ecosystem. As for “polluting the waterways” Hah! Humans are the biggest culprits by far. Just as they are in the mindless destruction of pretty much everything else on the planet.
Those who feel like being entertained by a highly sensationalised version of this story by a local Stuffer, Virginia Fallon, can read it here https://www.stuff.co.nz/dominion-post/news/131108411/we-were-terrified-home-hit-by-bullets-as-council-contractors-bungle-bird-cull
In other countries the magnificent Canada Goose is regarded as THE premier sporting bird. Granted they can be a bit of a problem and make a lot of mess if the flocks are allowed to get too big. The answer surely is to encourage more sporting shooters to hunt Canada geese by easing access to the places they like to gather not to have culling operations that no doubt cost a lot of money and waste a lot of potentially good food.
For those of us who love geese there is no more magnificent sight or sound in nature than a great skein of geese flying high in a winter sky and they deserve more respect than to be slaughtered by a mob of cowboy cullers.
Excellent intelligent comment. Thank you. Maybe people should do some independent research on the qualities these birds possess. They just may be totally amazed as well as enlightened.