telegraph.co.uk

The Canada goose near Kettlecreek in Toms River, New Jersey, with a hunting arrow stuck in its body Photo: AP

A Raptor Trust worker Kristi Ward releases the Canada goose into a stream in Millington, New Jersey Photo: AP

Bernard Levine, a retired veterinarian from Toms River, New Jersey, helped capture the goose, perform life-saving surgery and then transport it to the state’s largest bird rehabilitation facility.

“This is a smart goose,” said Dr Levine, 82. “He happened to come into the yard of a veterinarian that could take care of him.”

After it recovered at The Raptor Trust, the goose was released last week into a stream in a wooded area on the trust’s property.

“It feels great to see him free and liberated, enjoying life the way a goose should,” Dr Levine said, as the goose preened and waded downstream.

Dr Levine, working at the Toms River Animal Hospital he founded in 1955, removed 6 inches of the arrow lodged in the bird’s flesh, as well as several pellets from an air rifle. Levine said he hunted ducks and geese 30 years ago but a change of heart also changed his mind about the sport.

“With the encroaching civilisation and the loss of a lot of habitat, these birds are pressed for survival,” he said. “I’d rather not shoot and kill them. I’d rather feed them and sponsor their lives.”

New Jersey wildlife management regulations do not permit hunting waterfowl with arrows like the one removed from the goose.