The United States Department of Agriculture rounded up and killed 19 Canada geese somewhere on the South Side earlier this month, a department spokesman confirmed today.

Members of a local animal rights group, Voices for Animals of Western Pennsylvania, yesterday protested the killings, issuing a news release and staging a 5 p.m. demonstration.

VFA members say that a number of geese were killed by USDA employees on Oct. 10 at Riverfront Park.

Brie German, spokeswoman in the USDA's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, yesterday said, "We did remove 19 geese earlier this month. We were hired by a private company and privacy regulations" prohibit federal officials from revealing the name of the company .

"To the best of my knowledge it occurred on private property," Ms. German said. An "immobilizing agent" was put into bread and fed to the geese. "It calmed them down and immobilized them."

The geese were taken away and killed with gas. When possible, the carcasses are given to food banks, she said. "There were 44-55 geese" before the roundup. "Non-lethal" methods of population control were tried, unsuccessfully, before the round-up was approved, Ms. German said.

People who witnessed the goose roundup complained to VFA, said Rebecca Reid, spokeswoman for that group. VFA members say the number of geese taken away was much larger than 19. A demonstration was held yesterday along Second Avenue, and VFA members planned to "ask drivers and passers-by to help solve the mystery of which private entity contracted with the USDA and was responsible for the killing of a group of Canada geese on the South Side."

Voices for Animals has filed a Freedom of Information Act request for the name of the individual or company who contracted for the geese roundup and killing.

"It's abhorrent that the USDA moved in to kill these birds, whose presence was enjoyed by many city residents," Ms. Reid said. The group advocates non-lethal methods of population control advocated and practiced by groups such as GeesePeace, headquartered in Falls Church, Va.

Linda Wilson Fuoco can be reached at lfuoco@post-gazette.com or 412-263-3064.