HORRY COUNTY, SC (WBTW) – Some people who live in a housing complex near Burgess and Socastee say they’re upset after several Canada geese were taken from the neighborhood to be euthanized.
The ponds around Cameron Village are home to a number of ducks, swans and geese, but people living there say some Canada geese were taken away Tuesday morning.
The USDA says it was asked by the property managers to get rid of the birds.
“We’re hearing that other neighborhoods are saying that we have two problems here: we flood when it rains hard and we kill the wildlife,” said Terry George, who lives in Cameron Village. “That’s not a reputation any neighborhood wants.”
George says he can see turtles, birds and alligators swimming in the creek next to his house in Cameron Village.
He says removing the geese is inhumane and unnecessary.
“The more the neighborhood gets built up, the farther away the geese move,” said George. “They go to the areas of the neighborhood that aren’t built yet.”
Katherine Cairns says she’s seen similar instances of crews capturing geese in her nearby neighborhood.
“When you have geese carried out by their wings and then, they’re thrown into these crates and taken to slaughter, that is not the way to get rid of these geese,” Cairns said.
The USDA says property managers must get a permit through the department’s wildlife services to have birds like Canada geese removed.
George says the birds add to Cameron Village’s charm.
“There’s a lot of people here that love the wildlife,” he said. “We moved here because of the wildlife.”
FirstService Residential, which is the company that manages Cameron Village, declined to comment.
