C.A.S.H. Educates And Advocates Against Culling
To Whom It May Concern:
I am doing a local government project for a class on why the government shouldn’t use the bait and shoot method. I was aware that C.A.S.H. had stood up to this occurrence in East Amherst and North Tonawanda , NY and was wondering if you could answer some of my questions…
- Do you feel that my town’s compliance with the “Deer Accident Management Plan” could greatly hurt the population of deer that reside here? And if so, is the town’s compliance with the bait and shoot method be considered cruel and unusual punishment to the innocent animals?
- What would be an alternative solution to end the problem of the over-populating deer if the bait and shoot method is flawed?
- Does this method benefit the community if fewer accidents (car-deer) are happening?
Thank you, Rachel V.
Hello Rachel:
Thanks for contacting us. You asked:
- Do you feel that my town’s compliance with the “Deer Accident Management Plan” could greatly hurt the population of deer that reside here? And if so, is the town’s compliance with the bait and shoot method be considered cruel and unusual punishment to the innocent animals?
Chances are that the town will not be trying to decimate the deer population, because maintaining a deer population higher than what the habitat can support is one of the ways that state hunting agencies keep the public in the dark about their motives. By maintaining artificially high game animal populations, the state wildlife agencies sell the public and local officials, on the “need” to hunt deer to bring their numbers down. The agencies in turn reap the benefits of the hunting licenses that are sold and the collection of excise taxes that are part of the cost of weapons, ammunition and hunting equipment. Creating hunting opportunities is the way state hunting agencies remain in business from year to year. The last thing they want is to lower the populations of game animals, lest hunters lose interest due to not having enough deer to shoot.
We certainly do consider bait and shoot to be cruel. Luring animals in to dine over a bait pile while sitting in a tree only a few yards away waiting to kill them is about as sporting and challenging as shooting fish in a barrel. Unfortunately, state animal cruelty laws are often written in such a way to protect hunting. They make certain to craft the laws in such a way that they do not apply to the “lawful taking of game” – or however it is that they phrase it in a given law or ordinance.
- What would be an alternative solution to end the problem of the over-populating deer if the bait and shoot method is flawed?
The best way to prevent the overpopulation of deer would be for the game agencies to stop manipulating hunting seasons, limits, and regulations to create recreational opportunities for hunters. Since collecting the revenue from the sale of hunting licenses, weapons, ammunition and equipment is the prime motivation of the game agencies, they create and maintain huntable populations of wildlife. By removing the financial incentive to create wildlife overpopulation, you’ll see nature begin to control wildlife populations so that they are more in balance with the available habitat and food supply, something that is called the “biological carrying capacity” of the area.
To address this, we propose that state and federal laws be changed to redistribute the funds that are collected from the sale of hunting licenses, weapons, etc. If those funds were given to the victims of gun violence and/or their families, it would end the game agencies’ reliance on hunting and hunters to fund their budgets.
- Does this method benefit the community if less accidents (car-deer) are happening?
Deer/car collisions may be reduced in the short term, but since hunting contributes to wildlife overpopulation (I can send you plenty of sources of information for this if you are interested) the deer/car collisions will always occur at intolerably high levels. There are ways to prevent deer car collisions without resorting to violence against wildlife. Simple measures such as installing better roadway lighting where accidents occur, and lowering and enforcing speed limits during the hours of dawn and dusk when deer are most on the move will greatly reduce accidents. Inexpensive headlight reflectors positioned on the sides of roads can keep deer away from traffic. The Strieter-Lite reflector has been tested for years and has been proven to reduce car/deer collisions from 78% to 90%.
I hope this answers your questions. Feel free to contact us again if you require any additional information. Good luck on your project in your local government class.
Sincerely, Joe Miele, Committee to Abolish Sport Hunting,
www.AbolishSportHunting.com