Mute Swans Saved

Agreement avoids nationwide swan slaughter



WASHINGTON, Sept. 25 (UPI) -- Animal protection groups were joyful
Thursday over an agreement with Washington to prevent the killing of
thousands of mute swans across the nation.

The Fund for Animals and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service jointly
submitted the agreement to District Judge Emmet Sullivan for his
approval.

Under the agreement, the federal agency will withdraw all permits to
kill thousands of mute swans nationwide, as well as an environmental
impact statement that supported the swan-killing program. In return,
The Fund for Animals will drop its lawsuit.

The swans had been blamed by some companies for a reduction in
submerged aquatic vegetation in Chesapeake Bay. But Sullivan, in
granting a preliminary injunction, noted the swans consume only a
small fraction of such vegetation, which is affected more severely by
industrial pollution.

Mute swans are large birds, measuring up to about 62 inches with a
wingspan of up to eight feet. As their name implies, mute swans are
usually silent. Their plumage is white and they are mainly
distinguished from North American swans by a knob at the base of their
upper bill.

stevejdufour DeleteThis @yahoo.com (Steve Dufour) wrote in message news:<744cc401.0309251907.51f8a6d5 DeleteThis @posting.google.com>...
> Agreement avoids nationwide swan slaughter
>
>
>
> WASHINGTON, Sept. 25 (UPI) -- Animal protection groups were joyful
> Thursday over an agreement with Washington to prevent the killing of
> thousands of mute swans across the nation.
>
> The Fund for Animals and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service jointly
> submitted the agreement to District Judge Emmet Sullivan for his
> approval.
>
> Under the agreement, the federal agency will withdraw all permits to
> kill thousands of mute swans nationwide, as well as an environmental
> impact statement that supported the swan-killing program. In return,
> The Fund for Animals will drop its lawsuit.

Great. So now a non-native species can continue to push out other
native (and sometimes, endangered) species just so ARA loons can pat
each other on the back. Oh, and let's not forget the thousands of
lakeside residents who will have to live with hordes of these things
shitting all over everything they own. Of course, none of the nimrods
who blocked this law actually have to deal with the problem
themselves.

Actually, there are humane ways to deal with this problem. One
involves "painting" the eggs of these swans with vegetable oil,
cutting off the air supply to the embryo, thus killing it. Another
method is to swap out fake eggs for the swans' eggs. The swans
incubate the dummies just like the real thing, only with no resultant
chick. Of course, these programs are labor-intensive. This means that
they will cost more money. As federal money for such programs is
scarce, the residents of these lakeshore communities will be forced to
fork over the dough. This could have bee prevented, but in order to
assuage the consciences of a few ARAs who don't actually have to live
with the problem at hand, the people who actually do will have to
suffer.

Ain't mercy grand?

Doc