4/13/04
Dear New York Times:
According to "Green Thumbs on the Trigger" (4/8/04),
"gardeners have had it with deer." On the contrary, gardeners and
the 95 % of New Yorkers who do not hunt have had it with bloody hands
on the trigger.
State and federal wildlife mismanagement agencies exist solely to promote
hunting and to provide recreational opportunities for hunters.
Each dishonest, destructive step in the program - habitat
manipulation (replacing native plants with those favored by "game" animals),
hunting (which increases population), hunting promotion programs, and
destroying forest to provide access roads and other services for hunters
- serves this agenda.
As sprawl and human overpopulation force animals onto ever
smaller parcels of land, these mismanagers intentionally increase animal
populations, manipulating the public into
believing that the animals are to blame for, and that more hunting is the
solution to, real or perceived wildlife/human conflicts.
Knowing that the public naturally abhors cruelty to
animals, the mismanagers demonize the animals, misleadingly call their
mismanagement science, and relying on PR maneuvers (such as donating the
unhealthy corpses to food banks) to hide the orchestrated suffering.
The article puts a positive spin on deer killing in
Princeton. To see the cruel reality of net and bolt killing, watch the
videos at
http://www.sharkonline.org/indexrocketnetting.mv
.
Hunting is promoted at the municipal level to provide
local killing opportunities, as hunters are not just violent, but lazy. The
article deceptively states that New York and New Jersey towns have acceded
to hunting with little opposition. The opposition is strong and ongoing and
the battle over hunting causes bitter divisions between citizens, that may
never heal. Most municipalities have allowed themselves to be manipulated by
state game agencies and have ignored the scientific and ethical arguments of
hunt opponents.
Auto insurance statistics demonstrate that deer/car
collisions dramatically escalate at the start of hunting season, as
terrified animals run onto roads. Put the blame for overpopulated species,
environmental degradation, and people injured by car and hunting accidents
where it belongs. It is time for game agencies to be dismantled and replaced
by humane, scientific approaches to protecting animals and nature.
To learn more about wildlife mismanagement, go to
www.all-creatures.org/cash
.
Susan Gordon
The Committee to Abolish Sport Hunting
Box 562
New Paltz, NY 12561
