Goose Police: Sandpoint grants team of domestic dogs license to scare away geese at City Beach

SANDPOINT – After years of trying to get rid of the geese at City Beach, sometimes by lethal means, Sandpoint seems to have finally found a humane solution.

A team of 12 specially licensed dogs were allowed to enter the normally dog-free park at Lake Pend Oreille to disperse the persistent Canada goose population.

The dogs and their owners patrol the park at irregular times. Each wears a safety vest and a service number. If the owner sees geese, he can let his dog off the leash.

It is not the geese themselves that are annoying, but their droppings.

An adult goose can produce several pounds a day. Hundreds of geese in the park make the terrain uncomfortable for play and pose a health risk, city officials say.

The dog patrol began in mid-July and although it is too early to declare a success, it seems to be working. The amount of droppings in the grass has decreased significantly.

“By all accounts, it's been a huge success,” said Jason Welker, former City Council president and now director of the city's planning and development department, who oversees the program.

Matt Lome, the citizen who came up with the idea, said he hadn't seen a goose for two weeks.

On Tuesday there were many seagulls in the park, but only three geese – which were chased into the lake by a human child.

In the past, the city tried to scare the animals away with fake coyote decoys. When that didn't work, they tried more drastic measures.

As part of a relocation program, the geese were marked and released outside the city, but many of them simply flew back.

The city was discouraged from continuing the program because of concerns about the spread of bird flu. Last summer, the city hired the federal Wildlife Services agency to euthanize 170 geese, The Spokesman-Review reported.

They even approved controlled hunting in winter.

Although 21 hunters were recruited in 2022, only one goose was killed in the first year.

Welker said this was due to an early snowfall. The second year was more successful, with 49 geese killed.

However, these killing methods did not deter other geese. The green park with its well-kept grass by the water was simply too tempting.

A few years ago, the city even hired a professional dog to chase the geese. The difference is that he was only allowed in the park early in the morning before the park opened. As soon as he left, the geese would just fly back.

Matt Lome moved to Sandpoint about two and a half years ago and soon heard what the city was doing to the geese.

“I'm not affiliated with any animal rights organization,” Lome said. “I just didn't like it.”

He remembered that when he lived in Seattle, his Jack Russell beagle Julia would chase the geese on his friend's lawn by the water. He agreed to leave Julia there sometimes when he went to work, and soon his friend's goose poop problem was solved.

Lome presented his idea at city council meetings earlier this year.

He said they don't need a well-trained dog to hunt geese. A few neighborhood dogs will do. The goal is not to catch them, but to scare them away.

“They did everything except the obvious,” Lome said.

The problem was that many residents were also against keeping dogs in the park.

So they agreed on a compromise: instead of allowing all dogs into the park, they need a permit from the city.

Dogs must pass a temperament test to ensure they are gentle with children, have a good memory, and yet still have a strong hunting instinct.

Interested volunteers can be placed on a waiting list. To keep the program manageable, the city has limited the number of applicants to 12.

“We didn't want things to get out of hand,” Welker said. “City Beach is not intended to be a dog park.”

Mayor Jeremy Grimm said he was impressed that Lomé came with a prepared plan.

“As mayor, I get a lot of comments from the public about problems, but rarely a solution,” he said.

The program seems to work, unlike with professional dog handlers, because the geese cannot predict when the dogs will be there, said Welker.

Even if there are no geese nearby, it is important to continue to show up and mark the territory so the geese know it is 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 did not believe his small dog would be able to catch or harm any of the waterfowl.

“We harass the geese for the sake of the geese,” said Lome.

Jane Fritz, a local activist who has been vocal in her opposition to the previous killings and has advocated for years to allow dogs back into the park, said she is pleased with the program and the new city administration that approved it.

Although dogs are not allowed in the park during the summer months, they are allowed to walk on the paths on a leash from mid-September to mid-April.

The real test of the program will come next spring, Lome said. If they can stop the geese from nesting and laying eggs in the park, they might be able to break the cycle.