Canada Geese Deliberately Run Over In Toms River Parking Lot: PD

TOMS RIVER, NJ — Toms River police are investigating an incident where a family of Canada geese were deliberately run over by a vehicle in a Toms River parking lot.

The incident happened Wednesday morning in the parking lot at the Indian Head Plaza shopping center, at the intersection of Indian Head Road and Route 9. A social media post said a witness saw a person "purposely drive over and kill a family of geese."

Ocean County Scanner News also reported the incident, which killed at least three goslings and an adult. (There are photos on the Ocean County Scanner News report but they are graphic and disturbing.)

"We were called to the scene and have spoken to witnesses and shop owners," the Toms River Police Department said in a post on the department's Facebook page.

Police, the Ocean County Prosecutor’s Office and state Division of Fish and Wildlife are investigating and Toms River police asked anyone who witnessed the incident or has information or video footage of it to call them at 732-349-0150, ext. 1368.

Canada geese are federally protected under the Migratory Bird Treaty Act, which protects migratory birds under agreements with various nations, including Canada. Under the act, the federal government has set regulations that make it illegal to take, possess, import, export, transport, sell, purchase, barter, or offer for sale, purchase, or barter, any migratory bird, or the parts, nests, or eggs of such a bird except under the terms of a valid federal permit, according to a Taft Law report.

Penalties for killing the geese can range up to six months in jail and include fines; a Manasquan man was fined $1,000 in 2009 for shooting and killing a Canada goose that was pooping on his deck, NJ.com reported.

The incident comes less than two weeks after Lakewood police said they and Fish and Wildlife officers were investigating allegations circulated on social media that a family had beaten a female Canada goose and stolen or destroyed its eggs.

Lakewood police told Jersey Shore Online that officers from the state Division of Fish and Wildlife checked the goose and the nest, which is near a retention pond on Cedar Bridge Road, and found it was undisturbed and the goose did not show any injuries. The investigation was prompted by a photo posted on social media showing a family getting into a van that accompanied statements by a woman who said she saw the goose viciously beaten for three straight days by a group of boys. Read more: Alleged Canada Goose Beating Under Investigation In Lakewood

Lakewood police asked anyone who had witnessed the Lakewood attack to contact Sgt. Kenneth Burdge at 732-363-0200 or the Division of Fish and Wildlife at 609-292-2965.

Have a news tip? Email karen.wall@patch.com Follow Toms River Patch on Facebook.