Alabama HOA Votes to Euthanize Canada Geese, Sparking Resident Opposition

Members of a home owners association in Alabama have voted to destroy more than 200 Canada geese living in their neighborhood, but some locals are urging them to find another solution.

According to the Edgewater Homeowners Association board president Brian Goodwin, Canada geese have taken up residence in Lady Ann Lake, which borders the neighborhood controlled by the organization. Goodwin told WAFF that the geese have degraded the lake's quality by defecating and molting into the water.

He also said the birds pose a general safety and health risk to the residents.

The HOA members voted in favor of euthanizing the birds, but it wasn’t unanimous, with some residents voicing their concerns over the measure.

“I’ve never had any issues with hostility or aggression. We personally never got sick as kids rolling around in the dirt,” Natalie Tidwell, who lives in the development, told WAFF. “I can’t say that it’s a problem that warrants lethal measures; that’s for sure.”

Dozens of protesters — including one who drove more than an hour to oppose the measure — gathered in the neighborhood Monday to voice their opposition to the plan, according to WAFF.

Board member Jack Hollum, one of the two who voted against euthanizing the birds, claimed volunteers had offered to clean up after the geese, and that it was a quick process.

“It took me 10 minutes to hit this entire causeway before I went to work,” he said. “It’s a no-brainer. It takes so little time; it’s not even funny.”

Canada geese are federally protected under the Migratory Bird Treaty Act. Geese can be caught and killed legally with a permit from the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

Not all neighborhoods with geese can qualify for a permit to kill their animals, but neighborhoods near the Huntsville International Airport — which includes Edgewood — are generally eligible, as reducing the bird population helps to reduce the chance of bird strikes on airplanes.

The HOA obtained a permit to kill the geese in its neighborhood in 2020. Hollum said the USDA outsources the actual killing of the birds to an exterminator.

‘“They shoot nets over the flocks of geese, capture as many as they can, they put them in a trailer, and gas them to death,” Hollum told WAFF. “And geese can hold their breath for 45 minutes or so, so in doing that, it’s an agonizing death for them.”

Despite the pushback, the board has stuck to its decision to destroy the animals.

Residents who opposed the decision hope to gather signatures from 165 households, which is 25 percent of the neighborhood. A separate Change.org petition opposing the bird extermination already has more than 4,000 signatures.

“Our family, like many others, moved here to enjoy not just the tranquil environment but to live alongside nature. Tragically, the EdgeWater HOA ruled to start capturing and slaughtering these innocent birds, a practice we find abhorrent and unnecessary,” the petition’s creator, David Field, wrote. “This isn't just about these birds; it's about the ecosystem and the balance we disturb when we decide that we can control nature.”

One resident, Pamela Webb, argued that the community has a lake in its boundaries, and its path forward cannot be to simply kill the geese every few years when they find the lake.

“You can’t come in and repeatedly cull out the geese,” Webb said. “We have an obligation to do something, and that’s really where I would like to encourage our board to get more conservation actions going forward.”

The Independent has requested comment from the HOA.