City of Watertown
Vee, a border collie, will quickly be showing up in Watertown where she will chase after geese far from City-owned fields and parks.
Watertown’s most recent staff member will get lots of workout, time outdoors, and her benefit for doing a good job will be treats — dog treats.
Vee, Watertown’s goose control dog, will quickly be patrolling the parks and fields around the City to ensure the flocks of birds don’t get too comfy or leave their marks. She will deal with and accompany Department of Public Works Parks and Cemetery Supervisor Bob Dirico to work, said Watertown City Manager George Proakis.
“In a few days Mr. Dirico will go to Leesburg, Virginia, to pick up Vee,” Proakis informed the City Council on Tuesday. “She is our new city-owned border collie from a facility that specifically trains dogs for goose control.”
According to the DPW’s statement, Vee was born upon Sept. 22, 2018, she is a good eater, can work ducks or sheep, and is an “old soul” who tends to stick near to her handler and not have fun with other dogs when not working.
Vee has her own page on the City of Watertown’s website, where it explains what commands she reacts to, her day-to-day schedule at the training center, and even her brand name of dog food. See the Geese Mitigation Dog page by click on this link.
Geese using up residence at Watertown’s fields and parks has actually been something that Proakis has actually become aware of because he got here in the area last summer season. Parents of young professional athletes and individuals who like to stroll through parks have actually grumbled about interactions with the birds, along with handling their droppings.
City authorities took a look at a range of methods to manage the geese, consisting of spraying a chemical deterrent on turf, purchasing a push-button control car that chases after the birds, or putting wood dogs on fields. Proakis said one option stood apart.
“The most environmentally friendly and effective solution to the geese problem is dogs. A daily run on the field by a border collie sends geese elsewhere — they just move on,” Proakis said. “If it is regularly repeated they will eventually choose another field.”
Dogs who spread geese have actually been utilized by lots of golf courses and personal resorts, Proakis said, however couple of local federal governments own their own dog.
The City might employ business to generate dogs to chase after the geese, however Proakis said that is “substantially expensive to maintain in the long run.” He spoken with his staff that when Dirico initially signed up with the DPW, he utilized to generate his dog to run around on the fields and distribute the geese.
“It was actually a very effective, but once (the dog) passed away, the geese returned to the fields and have been there ever since,” Proakis said.
Vee will make day-to-day work on Watertown’s fields to keep the geese away.
Working out the information to bring a goose control dog onto the City staff took a while. They needed to find out what the dog will be doing, who owns the dog, who covers insurance coverage, and who feeds it. Then the City needed to get on the waiting list for a skilled goose-control dog. Proakis likewise needed to discover a location in the City’s budget plan for Vee.
“She will live with Bob and accompany him to work,” Proakis said. “She is the City’s dog and the purchase comes from the Animal Control revolving account, so it will not be adding to our annual budget account. The City will, with our annual budget, cover her food and vet costs, which is lower than contracting an outside agency.”
Councilor Lisa Feltner said she was delighted to become aware of Vee concerning town.
“A shout-out to Bob Dirico at DPW and (Recreation Director) Peter Centola and others who have been concerned about this,” Feltner said. “This was in my budget policy guidelines not get through committee. I am happy to see staff took it on anyway.”
City Council President Mark Sideris included, “In all years I have been on the Council I’ve never talked about goose poop.”
