Letters

Every day, I am astounded by the fact that so many of us still don’t understand, or won’t understand, the dire situation we’re in. When I read letters in your paper from residents who want to kill deer, and about Michael Tessitore, who is advertising his group to kill deer, with millions of species hurtling toward extinction, and that 2.9 billion birds have already vanished, I wonder what will it take for us to change? Even our children are now marching in our streets begging us to do something.

Before you agree to let Mr. Tessitore, or any member of his group, onto your property, you might want to know a few facts.

First, killing deer with a high-powered bow is the very definition of inhumane. This is evidenced by his plea for more access to private property. Contrary to what many hunters report, deer aren’t killed instantly with a bow and arrow and can run off in spite of fatal injuries — as far as 300 feet with both lungs shot. Most shots aren’t that precise, so the deer can run off to suffer for hours with horrific internal injuries.

This is why he wants access to your property — because the deer are running off from where they are shooting them. They don’t want people to see the gory, horrific reality of deer hunting, and they don’t want to lose their trophies.

Lastly, even if you kill every deer on the East End, you will still have ticks and you will still have the diseases they carry. Ticks are not here because the deer are here, and the diseases they carry do not come from deer. Denying this science is no different from denying climate science.

Don’t be fooled into thinking this is about public safety or keeping the herd healthy for the benefit of the animals. This is about growing trophy-worthy bucks and carefully controlling the deer population, like a giant game farm, to provide amusement for these hunters.

For humans, there is a deer problem — a problem we have caused. Deer feel pain, terror, sadness, loss, just as we do. This is not anthropomorphic thinking — this is today’s science. Here is an opportunity to change the way we think about the other beings we share this planet with.

Wendy ChamberlinBridgehampton