You wouldn’t think the folks at PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) would spend much time thinking about what goes on at airports, but it seems they do.  And they’ve awarded Seattle-Tacoma International Airport (SEA) a Proggy Award (Proggy, as in “progress”) for being the Most Progressive Airport.

Why SEA? PETA likes the fact the SEA uses radar, lasers, and pyrotechnics to keep birds away from airspace that could put them on a collision course with aircraft.

The airport has also installed netting over storm-water ponds, put in plants to deter birds from nesting, and installed underground fencing to prevent burrowing animals from reaching runways.

(SEA officials say these baby horned owls were removed from a nest near the runway, raised by a foster owl, and then safely released in northern Washington)

PETA’s press-release about the Proggy didn’t mention it, but last August, in an effort to find an environmentally safe way to rid the airport of invasive plants, Sea-Tac Airport officials invited a herd of goats (and three sheep) from Goat Trimmers over for lunch and let them munch their way through scotch broom and other pesky plants.

(Photo courtesy Goat Trimmers)