Fellow activists:
If you care for deer, and oppose massive killing of deer throughout
America, read on, then pick up the phone.
Following is a plea of Ohio activist Lane Ferrante to stop the legal
out-of-season urban deer bow-hunting from spreading - perhaps to your
city. Deer are being massacred in huge numbers by diverse methods. The
Ohio city of Solon, population only 23,000, spent $520,000 shooting
1,000 deer inside city limits in 2004/2005, and shot another 150 deer in
2006. The deer of Millburn, New Jersey, are being captive-bolted, i.e.
with extreme cruelty as we speak. As Lane wrote below, these mass
killings are spreading like wildfire throughout America. If there is a
time for continent-wide concerted action on an issue that concerns
American wildlife, this is it.
For more info on deer biology and ecology, deer-vehicle collision
rates, urban deer sharpshooting, bow-hunting and captive-bolting, and
the new
Non-Lethal Integrated Deer Strategy employing a combination of
fencing, deterrents, induced migration and immunocontraception, see the
new deer section of www.HOPE-CARE.org.
Anthony Marr, founder
Heal Our Planet Earth (HOPE)
www.HOPE-CARE.org
Dear Fellow Deer Lovers:
I am writing to you from Ohio where yet another deer atrocity is
occurring. Recently, a resident from Moreland Hills has obtained an
all year round permit to bow hunt on his property because of
supposed damage done to his bushes by the deer.
This tree stand is
very close to the road and in full view for the public to
see. His property sits directly across the street from a highly
frequented park and also abuts a very busy main thoroughfare where
people travel at high speeds. I have already witnessed the
hunters in the tree on 2 separate occasions. Both the police and the
Division of Wildlife have been contacted about this and neither
party will assume responsibility should a deer pierced with an arrow
run into busy Chagrin Blvd. and cause a fatal accident.
Furthermore,
Scott Peters, Assistant Director of the Division of Wildlife said
that this would never happen and that this question was
irrational.
However, this HAS already happened.
The day
I saw the hunters in the tree stand was the same day a near-by
neighbor saw a deer with an arrow in him staggering in agony on his
property across Chagrin Blvd. The deer had to have crossed the busy
street to have reached his property. When he called the Moreland
Hills Police Dept. he was told there was nothing they could do. Both
the police and the DOW tried to write it off as the work of a
poacher.
Because this permit is for the entire year it is likely that very
pregnant does will be hit with an arrow or a new born fawn lying in
the bushes will die if their mother has been killed. Bow hunting
works by wounding/disabling and the hunter must then follow the
blood trail to finish the deer off. Statistics show that there is a
50% wounding rate. But Jason Hadsell, officer with the Division of
Wildlife told me that bow hunting is the most humane method of
hunting and that the deer would drop immediately after being hit
with an arrow, a comment met with scorn when heard by another
bow-hunter. It has become legend that the deer named Braveheart, Iowa, lasted
10 months before finally succumbing to an arrow wound in his upper
chest.
In a recent article Scott Peters stated that this is the first all
year round permit in Cuyahoga County but "we are just starting
and we will be seeing more of this as the year goes on." As
most of you know, what happens in one state sooner or later reaches
other states and these deer atrocities are growing like wildfire.
It is vital that we all band together and let our voices be heard no
matter where these brutal slaughters are occurring. Government
Agencies must know that "we the people" want these senseless,
inhumane massacres stopped. We are all connected in this terrible
injustice. What happens in your city will eventually happen in
another city and another causing a domino's effect.
Please contact the following people to express your concern
and opposition. If you are from another state you can say:
- You are very opposed to causing terrible suffering to any animal
especially for no good reason when non-lethal solutions are
available.
- People will be put at risk because of the way bow hunting works.
A deer can run for a long way with an arrow pierced in him. They
may run into a road and cause a fatal accident. Ask them if they
will be held responsible if this should happen. Tell them that a
deer has already crossed a busy road next to this property and did
have an arrow in him.
- This site is in plain view for the public to see. It is very
offensive and most people don't want to witness this bloody carnage,
especially children.
Lane Ferrante,
Bedford, Ohio
Since 