We at Friends of Animals need your help on behalf of the deer. Westchester County plans to turn 850 acres in Lasden Park and Muscoot Farm Park into deer-killing fields for bowhunters starting November 7th. A “task force” with a pro-hunting bent concluded that there was an “overpopulation” of deer, and blamed the deer for causing ecological damage. Its members made the unprecedented decision to open up parklands where hunting was formerly prohibited.

Hunting changes the way deer naturally evolve and can cause deer populations to increase. Nature itself ensures that the deer population is limited by available food, territory, and winter weather conditions, which restrict
both food and range. The reproductive rate and the survival rate of deer will then decrease, creating a natural balance. Deer simply need us to let them be, and that’s the message that needs to be communicated to your
legislators.

Hunting is also known to increase the instances of accidents, with people driving into scattering deer. A 2002 study by Friends of Animals indicated that hunting exacerbates roadway deaths of deer. About half of all these
accidents happen during the three months of hunting season: October, November and December.

We ask Westchester and Rockland County residents: Please contact the officials below and tell them that you demand an end to the plan to turn your peaceful parklands into places where arrows fly.

Westchester County Executive Andrew J. Spano
148 Martine Avenue
White Plains, NY 10601
Phone: 914.995.2900
Fax: 914.995.2939
Email

Joseph A. Stout, Commissioner Dept. of Parks, Recreation & Conservation
25 Moore Avenue
Mt. Kisco, New York 10549
Phone: 914.864.7000
Fax: 914.864.7053
Email

Rockland County Residents

Rockland County Legislator Gerold Beirker wants to follow Westchester’s bloody lead, and has introduced bowhunting legislation that would allow bowhunting of deer on county parkland.

We ask Rockland County residents to contact Legislator Gerold M. Bierker and tell him that your parklands are not appropriate places for bowhunters, and that deer don’t need to be managed unnaturally.

Gerold M. Bierker Rockland County Legislature
11 New Hempstead Rd.
New City, NY 10956
Phone: 845.638.5753
Email