|
作者：傑奇•艾倫•朱利安諾 博士
美國人道協會西雅圖分會已對該市的公園進行監督。而在廣受喜愛的蓋斯沃克斯公園，西北動物權網絡的會員於6月19日當天，親眼目睹了圈捕雁類的殘酷過程。
當日早晨5點30分，一支由7輛美國農業部卡車所組成的護衛團抵達公園。至少有14位人員迅速地工作著，圈補並殺害超過100隻正在公園內安靜吃草的加拿大雁。
去年7月4日國慶日期間在西雅圖的蓋斯沃克斯公園裡，全家出遊的人群擠滿了每一平方英吋的公園地。公園處稍後透露，公園內曾受苯以及其他致癌污染物污染，可能必須被迫關閉清理7個月。
這些人員選了一個民眾不得進入公園的時間，因為在這段時間內，公園內因為正進行著污染地點的環境清理工作而被圍上圍籬，大門也都關閉。少數環保人士的確企圖進入公園，並在警察將他們驅離之前，他們成功地把雁鳥嚇退到水中。
隨後，農業部人員驅船將雁子群集趕回陸地上，並用麵包誘引牠們到圍籬區。這些官員將雁群趕下一個被圍住的窄斜槽，滑進一個較大的圍欄。一位環保人士形容，雁在這個地方「被粗暴地追趕、抓住並塞入瓦斯室內。」然後他們把二氧化碳灌進室內，殺死這些鳥兒。
這些瓦斯室由金屬盒子組合而成，然後被裝到拼裝卡車的裝貨台上。這些箱子在設計製造時，容納對象並不是像加拿大雁這樣的大型鳥類。盒子很黑，也不容許雁子站起來。人們可以想像，被擠進死亡房子的鳥類所經歷的驚慌與恐怖。
紀錄這場殺戮的錄影帶，在地方新聞廣播頻道上播放，其內容呈現出農業部人員不折不扣的麻木不仁，以及這些雁鳥所承受的困惑與壓迫。
派翠思•可萊博士，一位美國人道協會的野生動物獸醫師，她發表了一份關於西雅圖雁鴨殺戮的聲明：「基於在西雅圖使用安樂死的過程證據，顯示這些方式極不適當，且缺乏人道，我們對此表達嚴重的關切之意。」
她說，這些瓦斯室的空間不夠，並使這些鳥兒「很快就感到過熱，甚至在安樂死程序開始之前，就因不適當的通風而窒息。」瓦斯室內過度擁擠是不人道的，也不容許有人在旁觀察，確定動物是否在移出瓦斯室之前即死亡。如果過早移除，昏迷的動物會再甦醒，而這過程就要再重複進行。
農業部至少將在接下來的兩週內繼續屠殺雁鴨。他們是故意選擇這個時間的，現在正是這些鳥兒每年脫毛的時期，牠們失去了飛羽而無法飛行。
西雅圖公園裡的加拿大雁
西雅圖市與國王郡的公園可能都是進行屠殺雁鴨的目標地。人道協會則堅持，與野生動物的衝突應該以專業、人道方法處理，人道協會並認為農業部所採取的雁鴨屠殺方式令人無法接受。明年，這些雁子將再回來，殺戮也要重新上演。
這種做法在許多州的境內都已行之多年了。
我在過去數個月來走過許多雁鴨的糞便。我走過它，然後把鞋上的糞便擦掉。這算不了什麼大事，沒有必要因此殺掉鳥兒。
這個問題起於1940年代的都市計劃者，這些人將雁子引進田園地區，將牠們從瀕臨絕種的邊緣帶回，並為獵人提供狩獵的機會。大約在同時，生物學家在城市與都市公園中安置許多鳥兒，來美化市容。當初沒有人期望這些雁鴨繁殖旺盛，但牠們的確活得很好，而現在一些擁有發言權的人已經厭倦牠們：牠們把我們的草坪與公園搞亂，所以他們該死。
西雅圖市政府嘗試將去年屠殺所得的雁肉貢獻給慈善機構，但大部分的機構都予以拒絕。西雅圖日報曾透過「資訊自由法案」依法取得官方的紀錄，該記錄顯示，3,500隻被殺死的雁鴨當中，只有154隻死屍被送出。
官員們抱怨著處理這些雁鴨屍體的費用比預期的還高。但這有一部分的問題是出在，民眾知道這些鳥類是在城市公園與高爾夫球場裡，吃草葉上的寄生蟲為生的，所以這種鳥肉不符合人類消費的需求。
當喜愛動物不需要什麼代價時，我們就喜歡動物；當牠們開始弄髒我們的鞋子時，我們就不喜歡牠們了。西雅圖市以及其公園處殺死這些美麗生物的行逕，是多麼可恥，就因為他們無意願也無心尋求除了屠殺以外的解決方式。作為一個文明社會，如果我們膽敢因動物弄亂我們的草坪就致其於死地，我們又是多麼可恥！
參考資料
1.在預防加拿大雁大屠殺聯盟的網站上，獲得加拿大雁議題的廣泛資訊：http://www.icu.com/geese/coalition.html
2.寄電子郵件、打電話、或寫信給下列的政治人物，表達你對屠殺雁鴨做法的憤怒。如果你住在其他州，也告訴他們西雅圖市在停止屠殺前，將不會獲得你的任何一分旅費。檢查你所居住的州境內的公園，有可能也在進行類似的雁鴨屠殺。
Honorable Paul Schell, Office of the Mayor, 600 Fourth Avenue, Seattle WA 98104. Phone: 206-684-4000; Fax: 206-684-5360; Email:
Mayors.Office@ci.seattle.wa.us
The Seattle City Council, 1100 Municipal Building, 600 4th Avenue, Seattle, WA 98104, Council Message Center,
council@ci.seattle.wa.us, Phone: 206-684-8888
Ken Bounds, Superintendent, Seattle Parks and Recreation Department, 100 Dexter Ave N, Seattle, WA 98109. Phone: 206-684-8022, Fax: 206-233-7023
King County Executive Ron Sims, King County Courthouse, 516 Third Avenue, Room 400, Seattle, WA 98104, Phone: 206-296-4040; Fax: 206- 296-0194
King County Council, King County Courthouse, 516 Third Avenue, Seattle, WA 98104-3272, Phone: 206-296-1000 or 1-800-325-6165; Fax: 206-296-0198; Website:
http://www.metrokc.gov/go/comment.
cfm
3. 從馬里蘭公園處關於「如何與雁鴨共處」的網站上，獲得一系列相關建議：http://www.mc-mncppc.org/environ/
goose/
4.一些不用殺戮而可以控制雁鴨數目的方法：http://www.icu.com/geese/nlcon
trol.html
5. 西北動物權網絡：http://www.narn.org/
6. 參觀美國人權協會的「停止殺害加拿大雁」運動：http://www.hsus.org/whatnew/geese_
tracks97.html
7. 找出你的國會代表，寄電子郵件給他們。如果你知道郵遞區號，也你可以在下列網站中找到他們的聯絡方式：http://www.visi.com/juan/congress/zip
toit.html.告訴他們別因雁鴨排便而屠殺牠們。
傑奇•艾倫•朱利安諾 博士是西雅圖的一位作家與教師。他帶著他六週大的兒子 - 傑斯汀，到抗議屠殺雁鴨的會場中。傑斯汀驕傲地貼著一張「HONK （喇叭聲）」的貼紙，但在抗議中全程睡著。請將您的想法、批評指教，以及觀點寄給他：jackie@healingourworld.com並參觀他的網站：http://www.healingourworld.com
【文章連載】
■便便就該死嗎？ (上) (下)
全文與圖片詳見：http://ens-news.com/ens/jul2001/2001L-07-06g.html
版權所有Environmental News Service，環境資訊協會 (謝洵怡 譯，陳潁峰、蔡麗伶 審校)
中英對照全文：http://e-info.org.tw/issue/animal/2001
/is-animal01111401.htm |
|
By Jackie Alan Giuliano, Ph.D.
The Humane Society of the United States branch in Seattle has been monitoring parks around the city. HSUS members and activists from the Northwest Animal Rights Network witnessed a brutal roundup of the geese in the popular Gas Works Park in Seattle on June 19.
At 5:30 that morning, a convoy of seven USDA trucks arrived at the park. At least 14 USDA agents worked quickly to round up and kill more than 100 Canada geese that were quietly grazing at the park.
Gas Works park in Seattle, every square inch covered with families during last year's 4th of July celebrations. The Parks Department later revealed that the park was contaminated with benzene and other cancer causing contaminants and would have to be closed for cleanup for seven months.
The agents picked a time when the public was denied access to the park, which is fenced and gated shut due to environmental cleanup work that has been taking place on this polluted site. A few activists did manage to get inside. Before police escorted them out, they succeeded in scaring the geese into the water.
The USDA personnel then used boats to herd the birds back onto land and then used bread to lure them into a fenced area. From there, the officials herded the geese down a narrow fenced chute into a larger pen where, as one activist described it, they were "roughly chased, grabbed, and stuffed into gas chambers." Carbon dioxide was pumped into the chambers to kill the birds.
The gas chambers are metal boxes constructed to fit in the bed of a pickup truck. They were not built to adequately accommodate large birds like Canada geese. The boxes are dark and do not allow the geese to stand upright. One can only imagine the panic and terror the birds experienced crowded into these death chambers.
Video footage of the kill, which was aired on local news broadcasts, showed the absolute callousness displayed by the USDA workers and the confusion and stress that the geese endured.
Dr. Patrice Klein, a wildlife veterinarian with The Humane Society of the United States issued a statement regarding the Seattle goose kill. She said, "Based on the evidence seen concerning the euthanasia procedures being used in Seattle, there is serious concern that these methods are inappropriate and inhumane."
She said the gas chambers were inadequate and the birds would "quickly overheat, and begin to suffocate because of inadequate ventilation, even before the euthanasia procedure begins. Overcrowding of chambers is inhumane and does not allow for individual observation to ascertain if the animal is dead before removal. An unconscious animal may revive if removed from the chamber prematurely, and the process would have to be repeated."
The USDA will continue to kill geese for at least the next couple of weeks. The timing is intentionally chosen since this is the time of the birds' annual molting period. They have lost all their flight feathers and cannot fly.
Canada geese in a Seattle park
All parks in Seattle and King County may be targeted for kills. The Humane Society maintains that conflicts with wildlife should be handled in a professional, humane manner, and considers the USDA goose kills unacceptable. Next year, the geese will be back, and the killing will start again.
This practice has been going on for years in many states.
I have walked through plenty of goose droppings in the last few months. I walk through it and wipe my shoes off. Big deal. No need to kill the bird over it.
The problem was created by city planners who, in the 1940s, introduced geese into rural areas to bring them back from the brink of extinction and to provide opportunities for hunters. Around the same time, biologists placed many birds in cities and urban parks to beautify them. No one expected the geese to thrive. Well, thrive they did, and now some vocal people have tired of them, they mess up our lawns and parks - and they must die.
The city government tried to donate goose meat from last year's killing to charities, but most organizations turned it down. Only 154 carcasses were delivered out of the 3,500 geese killed, according to records released to the "Seattle Times" newspaper under the Freedom of Information Act.
Officials blamed higher processing costs than expected, but it is also the case that people know that the birds eat pesticide laden grasses at city parks and golf courses and are not fit for human consumption.
We like animals when it is convenient, when they don't get our shoes dirty. Shame on the City of Seattle and its Parks Department for killing these beautiful creatures because they do not have the will or the heart to seek non-lethal solutions. Shame on us as a society if we dare to put animals to death because they mess up our lawns.
RESOURCES
1. See extensive information on the Canada geese issue at the website of the Coalition to Prevent the Destruction of Canada Geese at:
http://www.icu.com/geese/coalition.
html
2. Email, call, and write the politicians below and express your outrage at these kills. If you live out of the state, tell them that the city will not have any of your tourist dollars until they stop the killing. Check around in your state, they are probably killing geese there too.
Honorable Paul Schell, Office of the Mayor, 600 Fourth Avenue, Seattle WA 98104. Phone: 206-684-4000; Fax: 206-684-5360; Email:
Mayors.Office@ci.seattle.wa.us
The Seattle City Council, 1100 Municipal Building, 600 4th Avenue, Seattle, WA 98104, Council Message Center,
council@ci.seattle.wa.us, Phone: 206-684-8888
Ken Bounds, Superintendent, Seattle Parks and Recreation Department, 100 Dexter Ave N, Seattle, WA 98109. Phone: 206-684-8022, Fax: 206-233-7023
King County Executive Ron Sims, King County Courthouse, 516 Third Avenue, Room 400, Seattle, WA 98104, Phone: 206-296-4040; Fax: 206- 296-0194
King County Council, King County Courthouse, 516 Third Avenue, Seattle, WA 98104-3272, Phone: 206-296-1000 or 1-800-325-6165; Fax: 206-296-0198; Website:
http://www.metrokc.gov/go/comment.cfm
3. See a set of recommendations from the Maryland Parks Department about how to live with the geese at:
http://www.mc-mncppc.org/environ/goose/
4. See a list of non-lethal goose control measures at: http://www.icu.com/geese/
nlcontrol.html
5. Visit the Northwest Animal Rights Network at: http://www.narn.org/
6. See the Humane Society of the United States' campaign to stop the killing of Canada geese at:
http://www.hsus.org/whatnew/geese_
tracks97.html
7. Find out who your Congressional representatives are and email them. If you know your Zip code, you can find them at:
http://www.visi.com/juan/
congress/ziptoit.html. Tell them to stop killing geese just because they defecate.
{Jackie Alan Giuliano, Ph.D. is a writer and teacher in Seattle. He took his six week old son, Justin, to the geese protest. Justin proudly wore a "HONK" sticker, but slept through the event. Please send your thoughts, comments, and visions to him at
jackie@healingourworld.com and visit his web site at
http://www.healingourworld.com}
http://ens-news.com/ens/jul2001/2001L-07-06g.html
|
