On November 14th of this year.. conservation officers came to my house and took my goose. I didn't kno I wasn't allowed to have her. I've had her for 5 years. I've started a petition to get her back which has over 500 signatures. I was on my local news talking about what she means to me. But I keep getting shut down when I ask how I can legally get her back. My family is alp she knows. I saved her from being tortured by much older geese. She was the only baby and they were trying to kill her. I felt taking her was the right thing to do. When conservation officers took her they told me I took great care of her. Im told u have to have a special permit to have her but when conservation officers dropped her off.. the place was closed for the evening. The lady that owns the rescue posts pics and videos of her. Says she is a permanent resident... if she can keep her why can't I? She knows us and loves us.. and we miss her. I just want to do what I have to to get her back. Any help is much appreciated.
I’m very sorry your baby was taken from you!
I signed your petition because I can imagine how horrible this is for you and Goosey and I think it’s wrong that she was taken from you. Geese are thinking feeling beings with long memory and considering that she was well cared for for as long as she was being taken from you is emotionally traumatic.
The migratory bird treaty act is the reason it’s illegal to keep a wild caught native bird species, including Canada geese. It is in place for a very important reason though, to protect native species from disappearing in the way that the Carolina Parakeet was driven to extinction, by countless people killing them for their feathers, because they were a nuisance to farmers, and by people trapping them to keep as pets.
An entire species despite once having countless numbers can disappear from existence if everyone can just go out and take a bird from the wild or kill them without restraint.
Canada Geese are very common and it isn’t fair that they took your sweet bird while Canada geese are hunted or considered a nuisance and are exterminated by cities, private communities, and golf courses, it’s hypocritical at the very least.
I strongly believe you shouldn’t be prosecuted because of the details of your situation and I believe that the conservation officers should review the situation and change their decision, but to be fair I understand why they did what they did.
You didn’t know what you were doing was illegal, you took very good care of Goosey, however that isn’t the case with many other birds who have been taken from the wild. I remember a case where a woman and her daughter took a Canada gosling and raised it on croutons in their house. The poor bird had horrible developmental issues due to its diet, was horrifically malnourished, and died. They didn’t know that what they were doing was illegal either, that didn’t know how to even take care of the bird and they never thought of doing even a little research on how to.
The law is meant to also prevent situations like that, to keep people who don’t know what they’re doing from abusing and starving a wild animal.
You could contact a Fish & Game violations defense lawyer regarding your case or to ask for information on what can be done in your situation. You could also contact your local news and ask them to report on your story. That can help Sometimes.
Ive never been in your situation but generally it’s very hard to fight the law when it comes to wild animals being kept as illegal pets, usually because showing leniency in one case, no matter how compelling the situation and how caring and in the right the people are, can embolden the bad kinds of people to take animals illegally.
If it comes to that and nothing can be done I want you to realize That if Goosey is with a rehabber/ rescue and has been deemed ”a permanent resident” that’s the very best situation Goosey can be in besides being with you. Goosey will be placed with other geese either as a surrogate mother or with other non releasable geese. Goosey will be cared for and kept safe and comfortable, which is a far far better fate than some animals face when confiscated by Fish & Game “euthanasia.”
It may help your case if you demonstrate how much you’ve cared for Goosey, and how you cared for her, what you fed her, how you protected and looked out for her, how you made sure she had a safe and clean environment.
She may be your emotional support goose but they’re more concerned with the welfare of the goose, how she was cared for, and less about how the goose made you feel.
You need to demonstrate to them that getting her back will be beneficial to your emotional well-being, but more so for hers as you’re the only family she’s known and that you care for her emotional and physical health.
It may also help to show that you’ve been researching the reasons why wild animals are illegal to keep, especially migratory birds, to demonstrate to the conservation officers and court that you didn’t know what you did was illegal but that you care deeply for wild waterfowl, and that you are willing to learn.
You could also get involved with wildlife rehabilitation yourself, clearly you did a very good job with Goosey considering you‘ve kept her alive for 5 years and you could use your skills that you learned with her to help other wild goslings and geese.
