I am not sure if many of you remember Kevin, the goose that was a feature on the beach along Okanagan Lake in Penticton.
He couldn鈥檛 swim well, and could not fly. I don鈥檛 know how he damaged his wing, but it seemed to lag behind him as he awkwardly stumbled along the beach.
It was amazing, but I think between his strong determination and people helping him, he managed to hang around and make his life a part of our day. Many people fed him to make sure he was alright when the pickings were low or if he could not get out with the others to find food. The ducks hung out with Kevin a lot when the other geese left him.
I am not sure if the birds understood that he was crippled up, or if it was more likely because food was always near where Kevin was. They sure acted like they thought of him as part of their flock.
We were on our weekend walk down the boardwalk along Okanagan Lake in mid-October and were enjoying the nice sunny day and calm weather. There was a woman with a large dog walking in front of us. We pulled back and stayed out of her way as the dog was dragging her around a bit and I didn鈥檛 want her to let the dog go after Pearl.
She eventually turned down to the lake and took the dog on the beach. Immediately after she reached the sand she took the dog off leash and let him do his business. I didn鈥檛 think much of it really. But shortly after as we kept walking I realized the woman and her dog were not near us anymore. We assumed she had left the area. I was a bit relieved since I didn鈥檛 think she had much leash control of such a large dog being walked on a public walkway.
As we neared the SS Sicamous, we saw a large flock of geese being lazy and enjoying the sunshine. We began really watching them because there was a very small goose and we couldn鈥檛 figure out if it was a goose or something else. I really didn鈥檛 want to walk down to get a closer look and bother them, so we just kept watching the small goose to see if any characteristics stood out in its behaviour.
It was then that I looked back along the beach and saw the woman with the large dog flinging her arm out and releasing her dog to chase the geese. The dog plunged into the flock, barking and jumping. He followed them into the water a little, barking and jumping to ensure they all were off the beach. He was proudly doing what had been told to do by his owner.
I couldn鈥檛 handle it. I yelled to the woman to leash her dog and get off the beach. Nowhere in Canada is a dog allowed to chase geese. She just stood and looked at me, like it was obviously not any of my business to correct her or her dog. I turned to my husband and said I so wished animal control had been in the area.
Another woman heard my words and immediately responded to my disgust. She marched down to the beach and began scolding the dog owner. I saw the owner put the leash back on her dog. The woman who had scolded her pointed to the walkway, and seemed to be confirming that the walkway is where you walk a dog, not the beach. Moments later the owner was walking the dog off the beach. She kept walking across the street and completely left the area.
I thought of Kevin, and visualized that is probably what happened to him. Someone set their dog on the geese and Kevin could not fly to escape the mayhem. So in memory of Kevin, we do keep trying to protect the geese, but some people need a bit more training.
Cheri Kolstad is a certified dog behaviourist, dog groomer and trainer in Penticton.
Email: cakcanada@gmail.com
