barberton: Dogs are not allowed to roam Lake Anna Park, but don’t call city officials if you spot a leashed pup harassing the Canada geese this week.
It’s all part of a plan to coax the birds — notorious for the fecal waste they leave behind — into finding a less public area to inhabit.
City officials have spent the last several months discussing options of ridding the city’s central jewel of the geese.
The perfectly round lake is ringed by upper and lower sidewalks, cherry blossom trees, picnic tables and benches, a gazebo and a war memorial. It’s home to a weekly summer concert series, the Cherry Blossom Festival and Mum Fest that draw thousands to town every year, and hundreds of folks who visit the lake for daily walks or public fishing.
The challenge has been finding a solution that won’t break the bank.
The city liked the idea of pouncing pooches. Ohio Geese Control, a Rocky River-based company, uses barking border collies and remote-controlled boats to make the geese wish they were somewhere else.
So the city applied for a couple of grants to spend up to $20,000 on a program that included ridding the geese from Barberton Foundation Fields on the city’s west side.
But when the only funding that came through was a $6,000 gift from the Barberton Community Foundation, those plans had to be reconsidered.
In recent weeks, a cheaper plan was on the table: A three-pronged approach that would have relied on volunteer neighbors to direct laser pointers at the birds, use strobe lights on the lake at night and put a treatment on the lawn to sour the birds’ food source.
Another company offered to teach park staff to dive at the birds with remote-controlled planes.
But parks director Shane McAvinew said Ohio Geese Control is the only company with a proven track record at other local venues, including Boettler Park in Green and parts of the towpath in Akron.
“I’ve talked to everybody and that option is the most successful option,” he said.
With the city’s limited budget, the athletic fields were removed from the program, and the dogs will only be used at the lake during peak spring and summer months, McAvinew said.
The dogs must take the entire month of July off because law prohibits the harassment of geese when their wings molt and they are unable to fly away. With luck, the geese will be gone by then and established in another place, he said.
The program would then be restarted in August for any remaining geese, and Barberton’s budget should stretch to within a couple of weeks of the Mum Fest in September.
“We will do a 16- to 18-week program and then evaluate it,” he said.
“We won’t know until we try,” added Councilman Elwood Palmer.
The dogs are trained not to pester ducks or the lake’s iconic swans, but they are also on a leash at all times so handlers can make sure they stay focused.
Paula Schleis can be reached at 330-996-3741 or pschleis@thebeaconjournal.com.