Animal Defenders of Westchester

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We advocate on all animal protection and exploitation issues, including experimentation, factory farming, rodeos, breeders and traveling animal acts.

Animal Defenders of Westchester
P.O. Box 205
Yonkers, NY 10704

Action Alerts

Hunters under fire for abuse of taxpayer money

Martinelli Publications prints nine local weekly newspapers.  They are:

THE EASTCHESTER RECORD, HARRISON INDEPENDENT, HOME NEWS & TIMES, MT. VERNON INDEPENDENT, NORTH CASTLE NEWS, PELHAM SUN, RYE CHRONICLE, SOUND VIEW NEWS, and WESTCHESTER CRUSADER.  In the October 7 issue there is an article on our complaint re the DEC's free hunter training courses being given in Westchester.  

The article is taken verbatim from the press release, which is on the website.  This paper has been pro-hunting; perhaps it is changing with the passing of its publisher. Contact info below:

"Hunters under fire for abuse of taxpayer money"

Members of several NYS activist groups have joined in commencing legal action against the NYS Dept. Of Conservation (DEC) for using tax payer money to fund hunter-training courses in satellite   locations of Mt. Vernon, Yonkers and Rye.

This statement, under the heading COALITION FOR THE ETHICAL USE OF PUBLIC MONEY was prepared by Taffy Williams, Dir., NY Whale and Dolphin Action League: �We find the use of public funds to train hunters and bow hunters a misuse, discriminatory and unethical management of public funds. ..also, the use of taxpayer funds for hunting-related activities is a discriminatory use of public monies, since there are no programs to benefit birdwatchers, kayakers, nature- enthusiasts, etc.  The link between hunting and other forms of violence has been established in such sources as the Journal of Interpersonal Violence (B.W.Boat, June 1995) and the Purdue University Press (Child abuse, Domestic Violence and Animal Abuse, 1999).

According to Anne Muller, President of the Committee to Abolish Sport Hunting, �Towns should be frowning upon the DEC's practice of building wildlife populations for hunting.  The Bureau of Wildlife is running a private hunting business on taxpayer money. The excise taxes on firearms, bows and arrows are insufficient to pay for their sport of killing animals. (New York State is required to match 25% of the federal excise tax that is contributed to the State.) All of the Bureau of Wildlife's overhead costs are paid out of the general fund.  With our money the Bureau of Wildlife increases "game" species which then create human-animal conflicts.

Councilperson Dee Barbato, (R-Yonkers) agrees: �While safety should always be paramount, in this time of heightened security for our waterways and water supplies, I would think that the DEC could find better ways to safeguard the citizens than using taxpayer dollars for these sessions."

Let's keep the awareness going - letters to the editor: [email protected] .  There is no prescribed length; some letters are as long as 300 wds.


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