Dear Editor:
Why do the deer have to die?
Because they have become a nuisance due to the irresponsibilities of human actions. From directly feeding them to creating an abundance of easy food sources in town, especially during winter, we have created a close-to-perfect habitat for them. They just use it.
Because the growing deer population has been ignored for too many years.
Because at no point have non-harmful corrective actions been put in place to deal with the growing problem. Neither relocation nor any other non-harmful actions have ever been put in place despite many alternate options being proposed.
It was from doing nothing, to a bit of public education, straight to the bolt into the brain of the deer. Because anything else but the cull would have been more expensive, more time consuming, and of course more unpredictable in effectiveness of the measure. We have chosen the cheap and easy way out.
Because we are too lazy and too cheap to put a fence around our veggie gardens.
Because many people have no control over their pets, especially dogs, and then blame the deer for defending themselves against a dog out of control.
Because the Invermere deer have not made it into the local celebrity category like the Radium Bighorn sheep.What a disgusting speciest approach. Is it simply the lower promotional value per deer head which has decided their fate? It clearly looks like that.
Because as a human species we keep enlarging our footprint on a daily basis and if something isnt to our liking, or attracted by the habitat changes we cause, then we put a bolt or bullet to it and call it OK, humane, free of stress and free of suffering.
Huge amounts of privately owned lands in and around Invermere, formerly accessible to deer and elk, have been taken off the feeding grounds list for them in the last couple of years. But we cant come up with anything better than a bolt through their brains as the answer to the resulting problem? Sad.
Because we think it is OK for us to venture and live in their habitats for recreation, hiking, trekking, snowmobiling, mountain biking, camping, and the likes. Or resource extraction, logging, and mining. But we are not willing to share our habitats with them, not even with the non-carnivorous.
What have we become as a species? Which other species are we going to kill off next? Hundreds of bears for the oil sands, hundreds of deer to simply keep them off the yard? Now there is talk of wolf culls because they threaten the revival of the caribou which we try to relocate after hunting them towards extinction first.
Has the Invermere council already set aside some land for a future zoo?
Kudos to the brave citizens who dare to show some civil disobedience to speak out and act strong but peacefully against the murderous action against the deer. You have my 100 per cent support.
I hope Sgt. Shehovacs public attempt to bully you into submission isnt taking all the energy off the protests.
As for our mayors statement that all the killings have been humane, respectful and free of stress, what a belittling of this murderous act! In my world, to kill, including animals, just to get rid of a nuisance, constitutes the ultimate disrespect, ultimate violence and ultimate stress.
This sad drama is definitely a huge disservice to the popularity of Invermere as a holiday destination for international and national visitors. Invermere: now internationally famous as the deer murder capitol of the Rockies, formerly known as the city under siege by the deer.
Each and every international visitor who has visited me here has been ecstatic about the fact that wildlife is to be seen in abundance and part of valley life.
The ongoing deer cull has turned out as a worst case scenario for the deer and the town of Invermere. I can only encourage the cull to be stopped and alternate, non-harmful measures be put in place to deal with the problem. It is never too late to see that the road taken is the wrong one. Why dont we give the deer a chance to live? So far they havent had that.
Ernst W. Schneider, Invermere
