SAY NO TO HASTINGS ON HUDSON'S PLANS TO SLAUGHTER DEER

Why This Is Important

Hastings-on-Hudson's current mayor, Peter Swiderski, and his board of trustees have acquired a permit to "cull" deer, the antiseptic equivalent of SLAUGHTER.  Their permit was for 50 deer, not enough for Hastings mayor Swiderski, he wants 80 deer killed in the most inhumane manner imaginable, 'net&bolt.' The massacre to be carried out by contract killers, White Buffalo, who earn their living exterminating wildlife.  It seems these human-habituated animals’ appetite for tulips, azaleas, and various ornamental shrubbery has, in the minds of the current mayor and trustees, created a situation so dire and unacceptable that action of the most extreme sort is not only justified, but urgently required.  Swiderski sites 'health issues' but turns a blind eye to contrary science re: ticks, Lyme disease and the deer. The genocide is scheduled for December or January.  The mayor feels the town of Hastings has "rolled over" on the issue. Help us prove him wrong, join us as we draw a line in the sand at Hastings on Hudson, and put a stop to this HORRIFIC MADNESS. 

The mayor claims that he has "examined" other solutions for lowering deer population, but has implemented none, ie. sterilization, increasing variances on fencing, or educating the public in any manner, in effort to rectify the issue. Instead, influenced by privileged whining residents, mayor Swiderski and his board are hell bent to slaughter deer as soon as possible in the upscale, Westchester County N.Y. community.

The ethical grotesquery of this plan appears to be lost on those who conceived it, who seem to be oblivious to the mental and emotional torture that will be experienced by the few deer chosen to survive, not to mention the many people who care about these gentle animals, and the community of Hastings on Hudson itself. Year after year, deer will be lured by piles of corn into the kill zone, and those marked for survival will watch as their herd mates are brutally killed right in front of them. Were such a sadistic policy to be carried out against dogs or cats, or horses, an outraged crowd would spontaneously rise up to stop it. But the deer, ironically, because they live free of direct human control and are no individual's private property, are somehow seen as unworthy of moral consideration. In fact mayor Swiderski likens them to 'giant rats.'  While one resident exclaimed, "We kill rats.  Deer are long legged rats. Kill them, kill them all"  Here are some links representative of the town's dismay over the loss of their precious azaleas.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3ultoN8FaoM

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8X72sgHz0sY

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XbtpOn4kRhQ

Do we really want to live in a society where bureaucrats arbitrarily decide how many of each species are allowed to live, then send technicians out to mark the few chosen to survive as ornamental reminders of a bygone era, doomed to move among us as freaks festooned with the trappings of their utter domination by humans? Do we want to cover the eyes and ears of our children as unsuspecting animals are methodically executed, and watch as they drag carcasses from out of the Hillside Woods? Or worse, watch as wounded deer stray through neighborhood streets clinging for life? Mass killing and extreme control of the area's indigenous wildlife is neither necessary, nor ethical, nor safe. This is a dirty, cruel, sadistic, operation. Everything about this plan is emblematic of the mindset that is destroying our planet.  The trustees of Hastings-on-Hudson have not attempted to solve this issue in any other manner. Should we accept armed men firing deadly weapons in the Hillside and Pulver Woods, to protect tulips?  I ask you, do we want our children to be identified in his manner?   "Where are you from Donny?  Hastings on Hudson?   Oh, that's where they slaughter all the deer."    

Or is it possible, with all the brilliant, creative and compassionate people living in Hastings-on-Hudson, that a more sensible approach can be found.   Make the board of trustees and the mayor of Hastings aware of your outrage and join us.     Call the mayor direct at 914-755-0014 and unload your outrage!!!

Regards, Buck VanDeer

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