Regarding the ongoing ‘deer problem’ issue, I would like to say that the attitude of commendable stewardship on the part of those who wish to include these animals in our midst rather than exclude them, is highly honourable, and has nothing to do with a ‘Disneyland’ mentality, which is a derogatory and cruel term that should be shelved here and now.
Tragically, empathy is a quality that is not cultivated or encouraged enough among human societies. We have been, and continue to be, responsible for the murder and extinction of hundreds of thousands of non-human animals, not to mention the ‘ethnic cleansing’ of millions of ‘inconvenient’ people.
Those who choose to demonstrate an absence of empathy and good will towards the flora and fauna of this complex planet, merely further their own degradation and deterioration. Vilification and killing are not solutions to the problem of ‘inconvenient’ beings. In this case, deer are not the problem – the human beings who view them as such are the problem.
Only humane solutions within ourselves will ensure our own and other animals’ future on our delicate and precious planet.
Claire Paterson
Oak Bay
