Dozens of geese drop dead in NJ town, raising fears of bird flu

☑️12-15 geese were found dead in three bodies of water

☑️The borough was left on its own to dispose of the geese, according to the mayor

☑️The mayor says the DEP can't say for sure if the geese tested positive for bird flu

ALLENTOWN — The dead geese are gone but questions remain about whether or not they were infected with the avian flu, which has driven up the price of eggs.

More than a dozen geese were found late January on top of the dam along Main Street, in and around the adjoining parks and in Heritage Park behind the old mill, Mayor Thomas Fritts told New Jersey 101.5's Eric Scott on Thursday morning. The borough placed a call to the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection.

"We were told to call New Jersey Fish and Wildlife, and we were told at that time we would need to take care of the birds. They are going through testing, but we would need to try to figure out how to dispose of it ourselves, because they're short-staffed," Fritts said.

Fritts said firefighters were not equipped to remove the birds because of a lack of training and proper equipment to handle potentially diseased birds.

"It just put these first responders at the potential risk of bringing something back to a department, infecting others, and then potentially slowing down services and resources when we have other emergencies in the area," Fritts said.

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How to dispose of dead geese

After contacting numerous pest control companies, the list was narrowed down to three. Fritts said he was able to negotiate a rate with a company that came out the next day.

Fritts said that Fish & Wildlife initially told him the geese tested positive but then got mixed messages about whether or not they had been tested by the DEP's labs.

"I've reached out to so many elected officials, and I have to say Assemblyman Alex Sauickie, his chief of staff, they really went to bat," Fritts said. "They made a ton of calls and we were told we'd be contacted by the DEP. We still have not received a call from the DEP, and as of yesterday (Wednesday). We attempted to call them again, and they told us to call Fish and Wildlife. So we're just going in circles."

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Positive or negative?

Fritts says he has heard of other surrounding towns Lakewood, Freehold and Southampon finding groups of dead birds and is concerned about their possible impact if they are in fact positive. Thousands of eggs at farms have needed to be destroyed because of potential exposure.

"I'm under the understanding that if you have a chicken that's tested positive within 100 miles of your farm, that your chickens need to be tested weekly. But speaking to local farmers, these geese are flying in and out of their farms every single day. So I'm not really sure how you can control it to what degree," Fritts said.

A spokesman for the DEP told New Jersey 101.5 they were checking on the test results.

Mayor Dave Fried from adjacent Robbinsville said in a statement there have been no reports of dead birds at any of its parks.

"For your safety, Robbinsville encourages everyone to avoid contact and interaction with geese. Should you discover dead geese, please do not attempt to remove and/or dispose of the geese yourself. Please contact the Township to report the dead geese so they can be removed and disposed of properly," Fried said.

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