Tuesday, September 29, 2015

Re: National Post Full Comment by Brian Hutchinson

“After cull enrages “Save Bambi” crowd, BC creates 100k/year “advisory committee” on urban deer”

September 28, 2015

* In a purely emotional comment, Brian Hutchinson, Vancouver columnist for the National Post,  attempted to explain the need for urban deer culls using the clover trap/bolt gun method.  DeerSafe points out his lack of research and reliance on an excerpt from the post-cull report by Oak Bay. *

VANCOUVER — Residents of verdant Oak Bay, B.C. are on red alert after Ollie, a nine-year-old Yorkshire Terrier, was brutally attacked and killed earlier this month while “doing his business” in his owner’s front yard.

“His little head was smashed right open,” his distraught owner told CHEK TV. “It was all over very quickly. He just dropped dead instantly.”

* A tragic event. Media did not cover another tragic death of a dog at the Cattle Point parking lot – which is in Oak Bay, not Victoria where Ollie's owner actually lives – where a driver deliberately ran over someone's beloved pet right before their eyes. * 

Ollie’s killer was an unfettered ungulate. Specifically, a deer. An aggressive buck is now wanted in Oak Bay for crimes against canines. What fate might befall the buck, should a local human ever confront it, is unclear.

* Witnesses at the scene were not sure this was a buck. *

Oak Bay residents are conflicted about their urban deer, which number in the dozens — if not hundreds — and get into all kinds of trouble. * Exaggeration that is permissible due to lack of evidence. * Garden pilferage, traffic accidents, sometimes pet homicide. The cleanest, most sensible solution is to shoot problem deer, and whenever possible to butcher the carcasses and give the meat to community groups, First Nations and whomever else might have a taste for venison. * Urban deer will not pass a meat inspection. *

But when such a cull operation launched in Oak Bay earlier this year, and 11 deer were trapped and shot dead over 16 days, the “Save Bambi” crowd howled. Local politicians scampered off in fear.

* The Oak By pilot project was intended as an experiment to see if deer could be clover trapped and bolt gunned in a densely urbanized municipality.  The target was 25 deer, so 11 would appear to be a dismal failure. *

“Regardless of having the support of the silent majority in our community, * exaggeration that is permissible due to lack of evidence * there is currently no permitted and socially acceptable way to responsibly and ethically manage a growing population of urban deer * exaggeration that is permissible due to lack of evidence * in a manner that does not financially and emotionally severely challenge the municipal leadership who are taking action,” reads an April 2015 post-cull report from the District of Oak Bay.

So that was that. No more culls in emotionally-challenged Oak Bay, where deer roam free and half-wild. Bad news for Ollie, indeed.

* An emotional statement itself. *

The fact is, deer are running amok in cities and municipalities across B.C., and the rest of Canada, too. * Exaggeration that is permissible due to lack of evidence. * A few days before Ollie’s business was interrupted and he died, Vancouver witnessed its own deer-related death. A slender buck, briefly beloved for nosing nonchalantly around the downtown core, emerged from its adopted home in Stanley Park and was smoked by a passing motorist. * Smoked?  A comment that is as insensitive to deer as any motorist who speeds, then blames others when things go wrong. *

The Vancouver Park Board issued a solemn statement on the animal’s “passing,” describing the death as a “tragedy.” The park board dared not mention the right answer to its local urban deer problem. Shoot-to-cull is anathema in butter-soft Vancouver. Deer adoption seems the preferred option here.

Alas, “finding sanctuaries willing to receive animals in these circumstances is a challenge,” says the park board. * Sanctuaries are privately funded. If government wants to off-load wildlife to them they should be fully funding them as well. *

Into the breach stepped the provincial government, which last week announced it will set up a Provincial Urban Deer Advisory Committee, to discuss ad infinitum the issue, and direct up to $100,000 a year “for future deer management operations” across B.C.

Details are to come later, after the urban deer advisory committee members are selected, a process also shrouded in mystery. “The committee is currently being formed,” according to B.C.’s ministry of forests, lands and natural resource operations. “More details will follow.”

Here’s what committee members and other interested parties can do now: Read the myriad reports and studies already commissioned in B.C and other provinces in recent years. Hundreds and hundreds of pages, all about urban deer and the problems they cause.

Every possible solution has been discussed to death already. Capturing deer and relocating them to the woods somewhere can be effective, but it’s expensive and not so easy on the deer. “Hazing” deer, or scaring them away with dogs and devices, is almost useless. Deer aren’t stupid; they adapt. Injecting doe with birth control chemicals is a complicated business and cost-prohibitive.

* One “possible solution” hasn't been adequately explored – immunocontraception.  Oak Bay residents comprised of scientists, educators and retired government officials have formed a group called the Urban Wildlife Stewardship Society. The CRD has committed $30,000 to their immunocontraceptive project, and Oak Bay council has begrudgingly committed $5,000.  Thousands have also been raised by public donation.  This pilot project is yet to be completed and assessed. *

Most reports suggest the same thing: The best way to handle problem urban deer is not to handle them. Kill them instead. And, if the specimens are healthy — frequently, they are not, poor deer — devour them. * Preferably donate them to the poor and First Nations, since the meat would not pass a government inspection. *

It’s too much to bear for some societies, where meat doesn’t come naturally at all, where steaks magically appear in grocery stores instead, nicely sliced and packaged in prophylactic cellophane. In other words, almost everywhere, now. And certainly in Vancouver and Oak Bay, where “sensitivities” are easily aroused and exploited. Just like urban deer, animal rights hardliners can be a nuisance everywhere.

The use of firearms in cities is a legitimate concern. Most Canadian municipalities prohibit the use of guns within their boundaries, so certain provisions to ensure public safety must be made. * Provisions that would take more readings of a myriad of reports and studies, not to be taken lightly when those with weapons are skulking around our municipalities. *

After its brief deer-killing experiment this year, the District of Oak Bay noted that it takes the right kind of “contractor” to conduct a cull. “Someone who is a hunter does not necessarily have the appropriate skills and temperament to manage all of the complex requirements that accompany something as sensitive in nature as this initiative,” the report reads. * Why the term "sensitive in nature?"  They are talking about horrific animal abuse, after all. *

Translation: Trophy hunters and avenging Yorkie lovers need not apply.

* “Save Bambi crowd,” “animal rights hardliners,” “emotionally challenged Oak Bay.”  Name calling is the last refuge of those who cannot logically disprove an opposing viewpoint. *


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