The Rincon City Council will be calling upon the services of canine help to counter a nuisance at Lost Plantation Golf Course.

Council members voted unanimously to spend $2,000 to purchase a border collie, which will attempt to chase geese that have impeded play on the course. A demonstration of the dog and its capabilities has been scheduled for Thursday morning.

Course superintendent Seth Zeigler brought the issue to council members last month and laid out different options, including the purchase of a trained border collie. Zeigler said the border collie is a better alternative than another breed, such as a Labrador retriever, because the geese feel more threatened.

During his Aug. 10 presentation to the council, Zeigler said he counted as many as 70 geese on the course. The biggest problem from the geese is what they leave behind — and it’s not their feathers. One goose can defecate every 20 minutes and can produce up two pounds a day of fecal matter. The goose feces can lead to other problems, such as water pollution.

Zeigler told council members complaints have come from golfers, Lost Plantation homeowners and residents in adjoining neighborhoods.

“I’ve had quite a few members and people who live out there who have brought their concerns to me,” he said.

One resident told council members that the course is in the best shape he’s seen it in his nine years of living in Rincon, but the geese’s effect has made it look like “a mess.”

Zeigler added that two-thirds of geese are not migratory.

“They have taken up residence, that’s for sure,” said Mayor Ken Lee.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture offered to capture the geese for $800, Zeigler said, but that only can take place during the two weeks in June when the geese molt and they will be out there for only one day.

Zeigler also eschewed getting a permit to shoot the geese and added the annual expense of a border collie, including food and medical care, would be between $300-$500.