I don't know what the intent was of the first person to put these words into the melody. Supposedly the known folk-song version was done in the 1850s. The story is about the gander and the goslins losing wife and mother. The first meaning of the song is just simply that other animals, besides the human animal, have these sorts of "family" emotions. The second meaning is a bit deeper, and in my opinion, may be the first animal rights activist song. We need to ask ourselves what this goose meant to aunt rhody? According to the song, aunt rhody was gonna use the feathers to make a feather bed. Now rhody does not need to kill the goose to get the feathers. But the song demonstrates how little aunt rhody cared about the goose. Several twilight zone episodes dealt with the same basic premise. And I think the question that we should be asking ourselves is "how would we like it, if a superior technological species used us, as they thought fit ?" And had no regard for our feelings, our family situation, etc.