SANDPOINT – After years of trying to get rid of the geese at City Beach, sometimes with lethal means, it appears Sandpoint has finally found a humane solution.
A team of 12 specially licensed dogs have been allowed in the normally no-dogs park on Lake Pend Oreille to chase away the persistent Canada geese population.
The pet dogs and their owners patrol the park at random times, each wearing reflective vests and a badge number. If the owner sees any geese, they can let their dog off leash.
It’s not so much the geese themselves that are a nuisance. It’s their droppings.
An adult goose can produce several pounds a day. With hundreds of geese in the park, it makes the grounds unpleasant to play on and presents a health concern, city officials say.
The dog patrol started in mid-July and although it is too early to declare victory, it seems to be working. The amount of feces in the grass has been greatly reduced.
“By all accounts it has been a huge success,” said Jason Welker, a former city council president, now the city’s community planning and development director who is overseeing the program.
Matt Lome, the resident who came up with the idea, said he has gone two weeks without seeing a goose.
On Tuesday, there were many seagulls in the park, but only three geese – who were chased into the lake by a human child.
In the past the city attempted deterrents like fake coyote decoys. When that didn’t work, they tried more drastic measures.
A relocation program tagged and released the geese away from the city, but many of them just flew back.
The city was advised against continuing the program due to concerns about spreading avian flu. Last summer the city contracted with Wildlife Services, a federal agency, to euthanize 170 geese, The Spokesman-Review reported.
They even authorized a controlled hunt in the winter.
Despite drawing 21 hunters in 2022, only one goose was killed the first year.
Welker said that was due to an early snowfall. The second year was more successful, with 49 geese killed.
Still, these lethal methods still didn’t keep other geese away. The green park with its groomed grass along the water was just too attractive.
A few years ago the city even hired a professional dog to chase the geese. The difference is he was only allowed in the park in the early morning before it opened. As soon as he left the geese just flew back.
Matt Lome moved to Sandpoint about two and a half years ago, and soon heard about what the city was doing to the geese.
“I don’t belong to any animal rights organization,” Lome said. “It just didn’t sit well with me.”
He remembered when he was living in Seattle, his Jack Russell-beagle, Julia, would chase the geese on his friend’s waterfront lawn. He agreed to leave Julia there when he went to work sometimes and soon his friend’s goose poop problem was solved.
Lome pitched his idea at city council meetings early this year.
He said they don’t need a highly trained dog to chase geese. A few neighborhood dogs will do. The goal isn’t to catch them, it’s to scare them away.
“They had done everything except what was obvious,” Lome said.
The trouble was many residents opposed having dogs in the park, too.
So, they struck a compromise. Instead of allowing all dogs in the park, they need a permit with the city.
Dogs have to pass a temperament test for being gentle with children and having good recall while still having a strong prey drive.
Interested volunteers can join a waitlist. The city limited the program to 12 applicants to keep it manageable.
“We didn’t want it to be a free-for-all,” Welker said. “It’s not intended for City Beach to be a dog park.”
Mayor Jeremy Grimm said he was impressed Lome came prepared with a plan.
“As mayor I take a lot of commentary from the public about problems, but rarely a solution,” he said.
The program seems to be working, unlike the professional dog handler, because it is unpredictable to the geese when the dogs will be there, Welker said.
Even if there are no geese around, it’s important to keep showing up and marking territory so they know it’s not a safe place to live.
Welker said he has received no complaints about the program and no reports of a dog catching a goose.
Lome said he doesn’t think his little dog is capable of catching or harming one of the waterfowl.
“We are harassing the geese for the geese’s sake,” Lome said.
Jane Fritz, a local activist who vocally opposed the previous killings and has suggested allowing dogs back into the park for years, said she is pleased with the program and the city’s new administration that approved it.
Although dogs are not allowed in the park during the summer months, they are allowed leashed on pathways from mid-September to mid-April.
The real test of the program will be next spring, Lome said. If they can keep the geese from nesting and laying eggs in the park, maybe they can break the cycle.
