It's Tough Being A Bird Near LGA...

US President Barack Obama took some flak last week from People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, when he swatted a fly during a TV interview. But the attention of animal rights activists is being diverted this week by happenings in New York.

USA Today reports about 800 geese have been gathered up from public parks and other open spaces near New York's two airports by the US Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services, the first of as many as 2-thousand to be euthanized. The round-up, in response to the January ditching of US Airways Flight 1549 in the Hudson River, is not the answer to the problem, according to David Feld of GeesePeace, based in Virginia.
 
"You don't eliminate danger to aircraft by killing the wildlife. You eliminate the danger … by making airports not attractive."
 
Others note the geese that brought down Flight 1549 were migratory Canada geese, not the resident geese living in the parks.

The most irritated of all might be area residents who've had to pay fines for shooting the geese after tiring of cleaning up their copious droppings. Canada geese are protected under federal law.
 
Unlike airline passengers, apparently.

FMI: www.usda.gov