The US City of Denver says they are taking action after 15 years of trying to control the population of the approximately 5,000 Canada geese that live there.

Officials say the birds have destroyed vegetation, created sanitation issues, and caused increasing human-wildlife conflicts.

It is illegal to kill the geese because they are federally protected, but the City of Denver received permission from the US Department of Agriculture.

“Geese poop in our parks is one of the biggest complaints we have,” Scott Gilmore, executive director of Denver Parks and Recreation, told local television network CBS Denver. “It had gotten to the point where the parks were being almost unenjoyable for a lot of people – that is why we moved forward with this plan.”

“They are taking them to a processing facility where they are processed and they are donating them to needy families,” he added.

Gilmore told CNN the geese produce 35 thousand pounds of poop a week making the algae blooms worse and aggravating E. Coli.

Some residents in the area say culling geese while they are molting (shedding old feathers) does not seem right. They point out that some people may be hesitant to eat goose meat.