May Safely Graze contributor Danette Wereta is the General Secretary of the Animal Justice Party Aotearoa New Zealand, an experienced senior leader, and co-founder of a newly established animal charity. She is currently studying animal law and ethics and spends time rescuing injured wildlife.
When I heard about the upcoming Canada goose cull at Molesworth, I felt that sick feeling at the bottom of my stomach. Not just because hundreds, even thousands, of geese will be shot down in the name of “pest control,” but because I know these birds as individuals. I know their intelligence, their devotion to family, their courage, and their grief. I know this because of the young Canada goose I came to call Grace.
In early 2023, my life changed forever.
I was out walking my dogs when I came across her. I noticed she was sitting strangely, and when I looked closer, I realised her wing was severely broken. Since then, I seem to always notice birds sitting strangely, or not looking quite right. Often an injury is not visible, but if they catch my attention I always stop. Always.
Near to Grace were her parents, loving, vigilant, and protective. They never left her side through the whole rescue. Her dad was always on watch, quickly ushering the family away whenever we came too close. They recognised us when we arrived each day to attempt to help Grace, and they did everything they could to protect their little one.
For a week, I poured myself into trying to save Grace. I researched, made calls, and found people willing to help. The rescue effort grew, kind strangers joined in, kayaks were launched, and large nets were bought. Every attempt showed us just how quick, intelligent, and resourceful geese are. Even injured, Grace outsmarted us more than once. I joked that I now understood the saying ‘wild goose chase….’
One day, with teamwork and determination, we managed to capture her safely. She spent the night tucked up warm in a barn, loved and cared for. The next morning she went to the vet, but her injury was too severe, the infection too advanced. We were told that the kindest thing was to let her go. Deeply saddened, I wanted to give her a name. I chose Grace, to convey her beauty, elegance, poise, and her kind, gentle, and stoic nature.
Grace never made it back to her parents, who we knew would be grieving the loss of their child. Her life was short, but her impact on mine has been profound. It was Grace who set me on the path of rescue, a path I am still walking. Even now, I talk to her in spirit, and she will always occupy a place in my heart.
Grace
Grace is why the Molesworth cull is unbearable to me.
The official line is that Canada geese eat too much pasture, taking food from sheep. But this conflict only exists because humans brought them here, and because we farm sheep in the first place. It’s not the geese who created the problem, it’s us. Killing them doesn’t solve it. The geese just breed more, and the cycle of violence continues, season after season.
The truth is that geese are intelligent, family-oriented beings who mate for life, mourn their dead, and fiercely protect their young. They are not ‘pests’, a word I dislike intensely. Animals we brand this way are not ‘nuisances’; they are living creatures with feelings, desires, and experiences. Along my local river, duckling season sees a lot of sadness, with many babies not surviving, for various reasons. One day you might see several ducklings swimming alongside their mum, the next day there are only two. But this is not the case with geese. They basically run a nursery – keeping all the babes together, safe and loved. It’s quite the sight to see, especially when they run a special road crossing and all the babies, of different ages, waddle past.
There is no need for violence to manage populations. There are alternatives to culling that are proven, humane, and effective. Other countries have used non-lethal methods, for example laser deterrents, with great success. These approaches are efficient, cost-effective, and sustainable. Shooting sprees are not.
When I comment, politely and with compassion, on posts relating to geese culls, it’s always the same. I’m met with replies like “geese taste nice” or “they’re vermin”, and, of course, I get lots of laughing emojis. You can see from their profile pictures that many of those leaving such comments are hunters, often proudly displaying the animals they’ve killed. How do people reach the point where bragging about being cruel and killing animals for a pastime is seen not only as acceptable, but also funny?
When I point out the cruelty, the reactions I get – mockery, anger, or doubling down – are also predictable, a mix of cognitive dissonance and identity protection. Many hunters don’t want to see themselves as cruel, and their discomfort is deflected outward. Mocking animals as “vermin” or joking about killing becomes a defense mechanism, a way to laugh off the unease. It also reinforces their in-group identity, because by ridiculing compassion, they reassure themselves they’re on the “right side.” In truth, their hostility just shows how deeply normalised cruelty to animals is, and how threatening empathy is to a mindset built on dominance and control.
When I think of Grace, I remember her parents’ courage and devotion. Every goose shot at Molesworth has a family like that. Every one of them is ‘someone’, not ‘something’.
The “magic of Molesworth” isn’t in the cruel, destructive hunt. It’s in the lives of the beings who call it home. And if we truly respected that magic, we wouldn’t be pointing guns at it.
Fly free, Grace. You started me on this journey, and I will keep speaking of you.