The Connecticut town of Fairfield’s Conservation Commission subcommittee on “deer management” is pushing to kill deer in the town of Fairfield. Members have used scare tactics and misinformation to promote a violent and ineffective assault on innocent animals. We expect they’ll recruit hunters to shoot deer, as the state DEP is anxious to provide hunting opportunities in Fairfield County due to plummeting numbers of licensed hunters.

Before deciding that Fairfield has a so-called overpopulation of deer, the subcommittee briefly addressed three areas: car collisions, Lyme disease and environmental impact. Without enough discussion of these issues as the situation would warrant, the committee overlooked information and would not allow differing information to be brought forth. This is a sampling:

There is scientific evidence to show that ticks will find hosts other than deer, such as songbirds and small mammals. Shooting any or all the deer won’t eliminate Lyme disease. Deer do not strip Connecticut’s forests and woodlands of trees. It’s encroaching human development that’s responsible for fewer trees and an abundance of parking lots.

In Millburn, NJ, intensive hunting and other methods of deer-killing were used over a five-year period. The deer-vehicle collision rate was not reduced during that period. Additionally, the State of Connecticut DEP gives out inflated numbers for deer car collisions. Most deer-auto collisions occur from October ““ December ““ the months when deer are hunted and forced to flee, sometimes without caution, from bullets and arrows.

This subcommittee is backed by an organized group of hunters and apologists from surrounding towns pushing their agenda with behind- the- scenes manipulations. Opponents have been censored every step of the way — even though Friends of Animals has repeatedly requested that the public be allowed to speak.

If the Conservation Commission approves of a killing scheme, Open Space regulations will need to be changed. We need to get the message out that we do not want Fairfield to become a place where violence is perpetrated against deer who are part of an urban environment and deserve to be let alone.

“This deer hunt isn’t justified morally or scientifically. It’s offered to appease a few local hunters who have long had far too much influence locally and nationally. The deer should be off-limits to hunters, and those who find pleasure in killing deer should instead control themselves,” says Priscilla Feral, President, Friends of Animals.

Please join Friends of Animals as we rally to send our message to Fairfield residents, Conservation Commission, and town officials.

Date: Wednesday, July 8, 2009

Time: 12:00 noon

Place: Meet at Sherman Green (corner Post Road & Reef Road), then proceed to Town Hall, Old Post Road

If you would like to speak with me, please feel free to contact me by telephone at 203-656-1522 or email.

Nancy Rice
Outreach Coordinator