Man Arrested For Stomping Geese (and goslings) To Death Says He Felt Threatened

WFTV ^ | 5/9/05

[KidGlock]

Man Arrested For Stomping Geese To Death Says He Felt Threatened

POSTED: 9:05 am EDT May 9, 2005

ATTLEBORO, Mass. -- A man who allegedly stomped a Canada goose and its five goslings to death in Massachusetts this weekend is in court Monday on animal cruelty charges.

John Sanders says he's "heartbroken" over the incident. He tells The Boston Globe he felt threatened because the geese were acting aggressively and moving toward him, hissing and beating their wings.

Police say Sanders, an industrial engineer from Rhode Island, slipped and fell in mud after an adult goose hissed at him.

According to the police report, Sanders got up angry and went into a rampage, chasing and kicking the geese.

[sheltonmac]

I must be an absolute animal but I don't really have that much of a problem with this. Yucky yes. But nuscince animals are terrible

I agree. They may be cute when they're little, but little goslings grow up to be big, filthy, obnoxious geese that poop everywhere and stop traffic because they constantly forget that they have the ability to fly.

The only complaint I would have against this guy is if he forgot to clean up after himself. That, and maybe the fact that he could have chosen another method that would have allowed him to get rid of more than six.

---

[American_Centurion]

Please read the study linked in my post #79.

I don't think you mean to equate every person who kills an animal in an inhumane way with Jeffery Dahmer, but that's what your post sounds like.

I really have to know, would any of you have a problem with this if he had stomped a snake to death?

[NoClones]

"This guy should hang."

Exactly!

[OldArmy94]

Could he simply not have RUN AWAY?? That's what I've done with "hostile" geese. And, while MAYBE I can see a situation where you would feel the need to attack an adult goose, especially if he could not escape for one reason or another. However, killing baby geese is either motivated by near-insane fear or by a freakish rage. He should pay a fine, but jail time is ridiculous, especially when you consider the numbers of violent offenders who never see the inside of a jail until they actually kill someone.

[tubebender]

I thought Glock was looking for meat for next Sundays Nascar BBQ.

There is a AP story in todays paper about a couple in a little town in Riverside County getting cited to appear in court for letting their chickens cross the road???

[HoundsTooth_BP]

Maybe not all geese are alike. When I was a kid my grandpa had geese and you better be afraid of them, they would attack. I would not be afraid of babies attacking, but mom and pop are another story.

City people see nature different than rural folks.

[steveegg]

On saturday I had a nuthatch zipping back and forth across the livingroom.

You shouldn't put those feeders indoors :-)

[steveegg]

Good ones :-)

[kahoutek]

Ah, yes. I should rephrase that to be a "legal" shotgun blast, Nancyboy.

Microwaving kittens wouldn't do much for me though, really.

However, clubbing a few baby seals, now THAT..................

[Graycliff]

My only goose story, starts with me at 9 years old, and taking over a paper route for a friend who went on vacation. When i went up to the gate, there was a sign, saying beware of geese. Well i thought that was pretty funny, i opened the gate went up to the door ( back then we used to fold the paper up and put it in the door handle or screen. ) put the paper in the screen and turned to walk out. It was at that point i realized the mistake i made. Between me and the gate stood 6 very angry geese, after swinging my paper bag in circles and screaming for help, a neighbor finally came out to help. When i got back to the house i was covered in whelps bruises and blood, those geese kicked the shit out of me.

[HoundsTooth_BP]

We all know that. If you are not human, you are in the animal kingdom.

[iconoclast]

Animals are just animals remember

And geese are often extremely mean and aggressive.

They give you no choice. They will literally run you off the golf course if you do not retaliate.

If you are in a cart, the best way is to drive the cart away from the goose just fast enough that he can keep up, and then stop suddenly. It is not only effective but satisfying. ;o)

I agree with (# 15) the "cute" animal comment.

[1L]

Did you just now see the LA Law episode (probably from about 1988) where this exact thing occured?

[fatnotlazy]

I don't think you mean to equate every person who kills an animal in an inhumane way with Jeffery Dahmer, but that's what your post sounds like.

***

No, not everyone, but it has happened -- and that's why something like this needs to be dealt with.

As for snakes -- yes, I would object...if it was meant just for sport. Of course, if you have a venomous snake or a constrictor about to threaten you, then yes...you do what is necessary to save yourself.

But I think you are missing my point. I don't buy the notion that this guy felt threatened, especially by the goslings. And he definitely was not participating in a hunt. What he did was apparently in a fit of rage and a desire to be cruel.

If it's all right with you that he just go off and kill an animal, then is it ok with you if he flies into a rage and kills his wife, child or anyone else?

[Tungenchek]

Some places use geese as watch dogs.

I remember being down on along slip beside an grain elevator on the Great Lakes.... you dont walk around there carekessly in the spring when the flocks land for a feed and rest over .....the geese can get testy to say the least and they are not small....

However this character obviously has some problems....

[CDHart]

"The big ones will protect the little ones to the death I think."

That's exactly what the adults were trying to do. Anyone who goes near the nest or eggs or goslings needs his head examined. This guy's an idiot -- an abusive idiot.

Carolyn

[Age of Reason]

You will love this movie: http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B0000CGNEH/104-8911147-6927956?v=glance

It's two hours of birds flying all over the place.

Great photography, though.

[iconoclast]

I couldn't disagree more. Canadian geese are vermin, crapping all over every park where children play (by law they generally cannot be chased away), attacking people Story and creating a public nuisance

They're even worse than Bambi (IMHO). Every summer swimming has to be forbidden at our closest state park because of the pollution caused by these pests.

At another state park that has a golf course the population got so out of hand that a special hunt at the course was declared in the fall.

[TexasRepublic]

Beware of goslings -- they are born killers! /sarcasm

[iconoclast]

So you blame the geese for the restrictions put on population control?

No, Joe, we blame silly sentimentality like this.