Officials Close Investigation On Poisoned Geese Found In Wildomar

Two domestic geese found dead at The Farm in Wildomar were poisoned but the investigation has been closed with no arrests or citations, officials confirmed.

The white geese were found March 23 near a body of water behind the office of The Farm’s property owners association on Harvest Way.

The waterfowl died from ingesting gopher poison that was either fed to them or left in an area that was accessible to them, explained Michele Tracy, agricultural and standards investigator for the Riverside County Agricultural Commissioner’s office.

When the dead geese were found, the California Department of Fish and Wildlife as well as Riverside County Agricultural Commissioner’s office were contacted. The state sent the dead animals out for testing to the California Animal Health and Food Safety Laboratory System in Davis. Necropsies revealed the birds were negative for all diseases and instead died from strychnine and zinc phosphide poisoning, said Stella McMillin, an environmental scientist with the California Department of Fish and Wildlife.

The chemical compounds are found in gopher poison, which is strictly labeled for below-ground-use only, meaning it must be placed in “active gopher burrow systems,” Tracy said.

“It is illegal to misuse it,” she explained.

Because the geese are not considered wildlife, but rather domestic animals, the state’s Department of Fish and Wildlife has no jurisdiction, McMillin said. 

Tracy said her agency assumed the investigation but in early May closed the case. No homeowners were interviewed during the investigation, and there are no leads to pursue at this point, she said. 

“We have no way to trace it,” she added.

If there were more information available that pointed to a possible suspect in the case, Tracy said her office could cite the responsible party for misuse of a hazardous material and local animal control could also pursue cruelty charges.

A domestic goose can grow to the size of a Beagle, and the birds are very noisy and aggressive, Tracy said. During her investigation at The Farm, she was never told by anyone in the community that the geese were causing problems for homeowners.

“No, I never heard that,” she said.