Keith Koke will have to wait a little longer to learn the fate of his geese.
The Chatham man, who has had white geese live in a greenhouse on his Thames River property in the heart of Chatham for more than a decade, will have to come back to court March 26.
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The Municipality of Chatham-Kent, acting on a complaint, charged Koke six months ago with raising geese in a residential zone. Some residents on the river complained the geese were defecating all over their lawns.
The matter came before the Provincial Offences Court most recently in mid-January. At that time, Koke’s lawyer Brad Langford, and Tom McGregor, representing the municipality, were confident a deal could be worked out if Koke cut his flock.
At one point, there were as many as 32 white geese living on his property, Koke said. But he’s reduced that number.
“What I have done without any pressure is keep it down to eight,” he said. “I think the key is there were too many.”
He is surprised the matter has had such interest, and that it even came before the courts in the first place.
“There are so many problems in this world. I think of the Ukraine, or all the weather-related problems, and here we worry about eight geese,” Koke said.
Yet he said he wasn’t angry to see the matter delayed.
“It’s not a serious thing. I don’t lie awake worrying about this,” he said. “Slowly, but surely, I think we can get it resolved.”
Koke thinks the white geese add beauty to the river, and said people regularly comment on them.
Prior to having the geese, Koke had ducks.
“No one ever complained about the ducks,” he said.
