Prospect Park employs humane goose control measures

From the NY Times:

Dogs of every breed come to Prospect Park and bother the geese, but only Cleo, a black and white Border collie, is paid to do it. Her job is to save the geese by tormenting them.

Last year, federal authorities killed nearly 370 Prospect Park geese, mainly to keep them from hitting airplanes. Now, with that slaughter fresh in the minds of many people in Brooklyn, park officials have brought in Cleo to help avoid a repeat.

Cleo will patrol the lakeshore to chase the geese from land and ride a kayak to chase them from water. She will vary her activity to shake the rhythm of the geese, and she will receive help from two collie colleagues, Spanky and Samantha.

If Cleo’s constant harassment succeeds in keeping most of the geese away, Prospect Park officials hope the federal agents in charge of the culling will pass them by.

“We would really like to keep the number down low enough so this is not a target area,” said Emily Lloyd, president of the Prospect Park Alliance, the nonprofit group that helps run the park.

Her organization hired Cleo’s owners, Goose Busters, a company based in Virginia that has worked extensively in the New York region, at $725 a week for about eight weeks, or until molting season begins.

Since Queens has no such group like Prospect Park Alliance, our geese will be gassed. But at least we're vibrant and diverse!