Eure. Around twenty geese shot dead in this leisure center

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Space for relaxation and walks surrounded by nature, the leisure center Can de Brionne also be a place where the sound of weapons resonates? A place where animals die from gunshots? The answer is yes.

In September 2024, a source warned us that the geesepresent in large numbers, were going to be eliminated. But on the day mentioned, and perhaps because the information had leaked, nothing had happened. It was only a postponement.

The leisure center exceptionally closed

Exceptionally, on Monday November 4, the City of Brionne decided to prohibit public access to the leisure center, officially to allow the felling of dozens of sick trees in the best safety conditions.

Only this reason is mentioned in the municipal decree. The company selected was ultimately unable to intervene, but the site was closed for a few hours. The time that a louveterie lieutenant act, out of sight.

Appointed by the prefect, this sworn officer is responsible for regulating and destroying animals likely to cause damage. And this Monday, November 4, it was on orders from state services that he went to the leisure center to kill greylag geese and Canada geese, an invasive species whose introduction is prohibited on the national territory.

The authorities had authorized him to use, until December 31, “all modes and means”, as we can read in a decree signed by the departmental directorate of territories and the sea (DDTM) on September 16, in order to respond to a request from the town hall from Brionne.

“Pack effect”

“We have been facing problems linked to the presence of geese for years,” explains the mayor, Valéry Beuriot. We try to reconcile human activities et preservation of various speciesgeese, ducks, swans, insects… The leisure center is important for our municipality and when human activities are threatened, it is the mayor's responsibility to act. We sent a substantiated case and the prefecture heard our alarm. »

According to the chief magistrate, the situation was worrying, the geese had become aggressive. He claims to have received two dozen complaints and cites as an example the testimony of a physical education and sports teacher confronted with attacks from birds during a workshop with his students.

“The geese consider themselves at home, there are more and more of them. There is a pack effect, and not only during reproduction periods,” describes Valéry Beuriot, also mentioning the damage in terms of public hygiene.

The excrement contaminates walking areas and, through its acidity, damages the vegetation, forcing municipal agents to multiply cleanings. It is this argument of sanitation which is included in the prefecture's decree, particularly in relation to the impact on the quality of bathing water.

“The mayor of Brionne noted that domestic geese returned to the wild and Canada geese were showing aggression towards the public and producing significant droppings. In view of the risks generated by these nuisancesin particular sanitary, a lieutenant of louveterie was missioned and 19 gray geese were killed during this mission”, indicates to our newspaper the communications department of the prefecture of Eure, recalling the passage to high level on the scale monitoring of bird flu.

“It’s a massacre and it’s despicable”

But was there no other solution than slaughter? Martine Goetheyn says she is extremely saddened by the situation. “It’s a massacre and it’s despicable,” protests the elected official of the opposition committed to the animal cause.

“These geese were domesticated. Why not remove them gently and give them to individuals or farms that could have welcomed them? », asks the former candidate who went there on Friday November 8. She says she saw blood-stained feathers.

“I asked the walkers I passed to see if they knew what had just happened. Nobody knew it and people were horrified when I told them the truth,” says the woman who also fights the capture and gassing of pigeons in Brionne.

“If I had known, I would have done everything to prevent these geese from being killed. But it happened on the sly », she regrets. The City of Brionne indicates that it published the decree of September 16 as soon as it was received, but it was still necessary to see it on the notice board in the middle of all the other notices… “There was a city council on September 23, Mr. Beuriot was careful not to tell us about it,” points out Martine Goetheyn. And the elected official denounces “façade ecology”.

On the one hand, they talk to us about biodiversity at the leisure center and on the other, they kill the geese, it's totally contradictory. What image does this give of our town, particularly among children? I am disgusted by this mayor's lack of empathy for animals. Shame on him!

“A lack of consideration for these animals”

The file could cause turbulence within the majority itself and the mayor urgently summoned his team, before the publication of our article, for a meeting this Tuesday, November 12 to discuss “current issues”, according to a document that we obtained .

“There was no communication,” laments Cédric Lejeune. Also a member of the opposition, he says he is aware of the difficulties generated by the presence of birds. But he does not approve of this decision, which he describes as radical. “I think we could have capture and move themin collaboration with specialized services,” replies the business manager.

Failure to consider more humane alternatives shows a lack of consideration for these animals and raises serious questions about the sensitivity and responsibility of a mayor. And it calls for serious reflection on how our city is run.

Is the state’s fault?

Around twenty animals were eliminated, in total, according to our information. “There are still five or six left, but they are afraid and have taken refuge on a peninsula,” says Martine Goetheyn.

Called into question by his adversaries, Valéry Beuriot denies being at the origin of this method and returns the ball to the State.

We were not questioned about the means implemented and we do not have the authority to act, it is very regulated. If the prefect had decided to remove the geese, that suited me just fine. But we do not own these animals and we do not have the right to move them.

In 2018, already for health reasons, a municipal agent took the initiative to remove the birds, before bringing them back, facing to the outcry caused. At the time, the mayor defended their presence and even spoke of an attraction for the public.

Moreover, what can we observe on the website of the City of Brionne among the photos supposed to promote the leisure center? A picture of wild geese. The same ones who seem to have become so undesirable…

When asked, the lieutenant of louveterie did not wish to speak publicly.

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