Re: Birth control back on the table for deer, Oak Bay News, Nov. 18
I have lived in the Lower Mainland all my life, being born in New Westminster, and I live in a province where housing costs are the most expensive in Canada.
We struggle as a family to make all-ends meet, including the ever-rising cost of food. To eat healthy in this province and in the Lower Mainland, you to have to be prepared to spend a great deal of money, and spend a great deal of time looking for bargains to live within your budget.
So it is with shock that I heard on the TV news and then subsequently read in your online newspaper The Oak Bay News that you are contemplating the idea of giving your over-populated deer birth control.
Are you serious?
Have your council and Oak Bay residents gone mad? Have you all turned into bleeding hearts? The notion of giving your deer population birth control sounds straight out of the Twilight Zone to the rest of us in the province as we grapple with high food costs.
God made animals, such as deer, as a food source for humans. Deer are not pets, but a source of food and good food at that.
Taking a populous vote on whether or not to cull an over-populated food source is lunancy. There is a way to easily control the population of the deer and provide a food source for those who are willing to sign up and take possession of the animals, once slaughtered.
I know many of my family and friends would jump at the chance to have fresh venison.
Also, think of your aging residents on limited income, and the homeless population not only in your community, but on Vancouver Island, who would greatly benefit for having this wonderful source of meat provided at the soup kitchens where they could get a decent meal -- including protein. It would be a win-win.
I’m pretty sure The Salvation Army, or GateWay of Hope would gladly make an arrangement with you to take possession of the deer once the BC Ministry of Lands, Forest, and Natural Resource Operations appoints Forest Rangers or hired hunters to come in and do the deed.
Perhaps every two years, they do another cull and provide a wonderful food source again to those who want or need it. Giving birth control to deer messes with the eco-system.
What’s next Oak Bay? Are you going to provide birth control to your raccoons and squirrels to manage them as well? If you do the cull and are willing to hand over the meat, announce it so we can sign up as a participant who would be willing to make the time and effort to pick up the venison.
Sandra & Edward Steffan
Langley