Why Ann Arbor Needs to Vote on Deer Culling

I strongly believe that Ann Arbor should use humane methods of deer management, which have a proven track record as being far safer, more effective, and even less expensive.

At Ann Arbor’s recent public meeting on deer management, Lance De Voe, wildlife biologist of Rochester Hills, shared successes with humane methods. These are well documented in “Deer Management Advisory Committee Recommendations, 2012” (gardening education, improved signage, bans on feeding and hunting).

The original sharpshooting in Rochester Hills met with public outcry. So many shots were heard, it sounded like a war-zone. The park was covered in blood and gore, yet open to the public. A heart-rending photo shows a lovely young doe in Farmington Hills still walking in trauma with an arrow sticking out of her head! How would we in Ann Arbor explain such incidents to our children? Worse yet, these could be traumas for our children.

Ann Arbor’s Deer Management Survey revealed that participants were almost equally divided on lethal vs. non-lethal methods. But I believe that the majority of Ann Arborites feel tolerant toward deer, and that many love them as I do. So let’s not let impatient, angry people force a rush-to-judgment on how to control our deer population.

Clearly, we need a town-wide vote on this important topic. It would be undemocratic and cruel for the City to proceed with lethal methods in October, just before the 2015 elections. Let’s not jump the gun with violent and expensive methods that are neither humane nor effective.

Kathleen Amaru Titus, M.A.

Ann Arbor