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Airports Can Execute Snowy Owls To Their Hearts' Content, Court Rules
By
John Del Signore
Published Jan 27, 2016
Modified Jan 27, 2016
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By
John Del Signore
Published Jan 27, 2016
Modified Jan 27, 2016
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Airport operators are within their legal rights to execute migratory birds as a method of protecting planes from bird strikes, a U.S. appeals court ruled yesterday. The ruling stems back to 2013, when animal rights group Friends of Animals filed a lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the United States Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, and the United States Fish and Wildlife Service, in an attempt to block a permit issued to Port Authority that allowed the extermination (or "taking") of birds at JFK and LaGuardia airports.
Animal rights activists were particularly incensed by the shotgun extermination of three snowy owls at JFK airport in 2013 after five planes at JFK, Newark, and La Guardia airports were allegedly struck by the owls. Their outrage was further inflamed after a Port Authority source told the Daily News, "These are beautiful birds that I or anyone else I know who has worked at JFK have never heard pose a problem. Even a wildlife specialist didn't understand why they were being killed because they are not part of a large population and they are easy to catch and relocate, unlike seagulls."
In the wake of that uproar, Port Authority announced that it would be refining its strategy by trapping and relocating the owls instead of shooting them. But the lawsuit moved forward anyway, with Friends of Animals arguing that it was "wholly unnecessary" to kill the snow owls, while conceding that it is sometimes necessary to exterminate some migratory birds in the name of safety. The group has been pushing for "a more species-by-species approach,” instead of what they see as a “shoot-first mentality."
A lower court disagreed with the activists' argument, and now the U.S. Court of Appeals has upheld that decision. "Migratory birds that congregate near airports pose a well-known threat to human safety,” Judge José Cabranes wrote in the ruling, pointing to several well-known near-catastrophes, such as the Miracle on the Hudson, which was caused by birds.
"The decision to kill three snowy owls was blind and irrational and needed to be challenged," said Priscilla Feral, president of Friends of Animals, in response to yesterday's decision. “We don’t like this ruling but it won’t discourage us from holding these agencies’ feet to the fire next time.”
The Port Authority declined to comment on yesterday's decision.
In 2012, a Port Authority spokesman filled us in on how the agency keeps winged animals from flying into planes at JFK airport. The airport employs a team of wildlife supervisors who drive around in SUVs using noisemakers, balloons, lasers, and shotguns to disperse or kill birds that may put human fliers in danger.
Tagged
airports
courts
jfk airport
migratory birds
owls
port authority
John Del Signore
Originally from the Albany area, John Del Signore has called NYC home since 1995. In addition to his thousands of meticulously-crafted bespoke blog posts for Gothamist, his writing has also been published in The Awl, Deadspin, The Nervous Breakdown, and performed at The Brick Theater in Brooklyn.
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