Letters

When I called to report a badly injured deer in my backyard last week, the duty officer said I had a choice: Let the animal bleed out, or allow an officer to “dispatch” it with a service revolver.

Apparently, a recent policy change means that trained animal rescue volunteers are no longer permitted to tranquilizer the deer first [“Wildlife Rescue Crisis: New Rule Leaves Hamptons Deer Stranded Without Aid,” 27east.com, March 8].

Previously, the tranquilized deer could either be taken to the rescue facility for treatment or humanely euthanized. It wouldn’t suffer. Now, the homeowner has to make a choice to either allow the animal to die a slow death or be shot, either of which seems needlessly painful. 

It took three shots, each 10 minutes apart, for the young buck on my property to die, meaning he suffered for quite a while. 

Then I was informed by the officer that it was my responsibility to drag the animal’s body to the curb and arrange for pick-up. Fortunately, I had help from Missy Hargraves, a trained volunteer who would have otherwise tranquillized the deer, and a neighbor, Eric Schwartz. It took all three of us to lug the 200-pound animal across the yard. (I later found a tick on my back, necessitating a trip to urgent care.)

All of this could have been avoided, sparing the officer, my friends and I a difficult experience and sparing the deer a painful death.

I was told that this change was made because “kids” had gotten access to the tranquilizers. I’m not sure about this, but if this is the reason, surely there’s a way to safeguard the tranquilizers. Another option would be to train and equip officers to tranquilize injured animals.

Deer live among us. We live among them. We must find a humane way to care for them or to euthanize them when our actions as humans cause them harm.

Patricia McCormick

North Haven