Posted on 04/18/2002 4:40:48 AM PDT by csvset
Navy draws criticism over beating deaths of deer on base
By SCOTT HARPER, The Virginian-Pilot
© April 18, 2002
VIRGINIA BEACH -- Animal-rights activists and wildlife rescuers are criticizing the Navy over an incident this month at Oceana Naval Air Station, where staff destroyed two badly injured deer by beating them with a shovel and cutting their throats.
The Navy is defending the actions of two base workers, saying they used ``the best available, immediate means to end these animals' suffering at that particular time and place,'' Capt. C.A. Silvers, Oceana's commanding officer, said in a letter to one animal group.
``While it is unfortunate that this incident occurred, it was handled safely and appropriately,'' Silvers wrote in his April 8 letter.
Several local wildlife rehabilitators were stunned to learn of the episode, calling it inhumane, contrary to accepted euthanasia practices and possibly illegal.
One group is pressing the Navy to develop humane procedures for responding to injured animals discovered on the sprawling air base in Virginia Beach, and to equip its outdoor specialists with tranquilizing guns and other equipment.
The event also adds another chapter to a long-running national debate over when and how to humanely euthanize wounded wildlife in the field, where sophisticated drugs and devices often are not available.
``It is possible to stun an animal to allow the (throat-cutting), but a shovel is never an accepted implement,'' said Edward E. Clark Jr., president of the Wildlife Center of Virginia.
``I would not condemn the people involved for doing the best they could,'' Clark added. ``But I would certainly encourage them, and their colleagues, to learn from this experience and learn how to properly -- and humanely -- euthanize an animal.''
According to Navy officials and eyewitnesses, three deer ran across an Oceana airfield and struck a fence near a hangar and parking lot about 1 p.m. on April 1. One died immediately. Two others were mortally wounded, writhing on the ground in pain.
A local wildlife rescuer was called, as were a Navy conservation officer and a natural resources specialist. Before the rehabilitator arrived, the two staffers decided to euthanize the injured deer on the spot.
But they chose not to use a firearm in their possession ``due to the number and proximity of persons nearby, and for other reasons of safety,'' according to Silvers.
Instead, the workers retrieved what eyewitnesses described as a shovel -- the Navy would only say that the two used ``blunt force'' -- and beat the deer unconscious before cutting their throats with a knife to ensure death.
Attempts to obtain additional information about the incident, the workers involved and their training were unsuccessful this week, despite repeated phone calls to the Oceana public affairs office.
Oceana spokesman Troy Snead said Tuesday that he had not heard of the case but was ``sure nothing was done wrong.''
People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, an international animal-rights group based in Norfolk, brought the episode to light after being contacted by several eyewitnesses who were upset by how the workers handled the situation and how the deer were put to rest.
PETA is especially concerned that the two employees used a shovel and a knife to destroy the deer, arguing that such actions do not constitute euthanasia and might be construed as animal cruelty, a criminal offense.
Stephanie Boyles, a PETA biologist and investigator, said the group would not have had a problem if the workers had fired their weapons at close range into the deer -- a view shared by several wildlife rehabilitators and experts.
``It sounds very odd, very unusual, for them to resort to such force,'' said Diana Krell, a humane educator for the Norfolk Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. ``They have guns, don't they? That's easily the better way to go.''
State game wardens are trained to euthanize a mortally wounded wild animal with a close-range gunshot. If safety is a concern, the wardens would likely cover the animal with a sheet or blanket and move it to a more appropriate place for firing a weapon, said Col. Jeff Uerz, chief of law enforcement and administration with the Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries.
Uerz said such protocol is spelled out in a lesson plan, modeled after one by the American Veterinary Medical Association, that each warden receives during formal training.
PETA has asked the Navy to adopt similar standards and training for its wildlife personnel. The Navy so far has not responded to the request.
In his letter to PETA, Silvers said Oceana staffers occasionally are required to destroy deer that pose safety risks to aircraft. Mortal injury to deer near aircraft facilities, as on April 1, ``is a proper reason for the type of expeditious action taken in this case.''
If circumstances were different, he wrote, ``other methods may have been used.''
Reach Scott Harper at 446-2340 or sharper@pilotonline.com
"Cletus, you hold 'em, I'll shoot 'em."
Some the civil service folks are that bright.
Ok, let's see, I guess it would have been better to overpopulate the deer herds instead of manage them- that way we'd see more deer lurch into the road, get their legs sheered off, walk around on stumps, bleeding in pain, then PETA would be happy.
Or how about this.. if PETA was really serious about animals rights, they'd be asking for all Wolves, Mountain Lions, bobcats, bears, etc. to be stopped from killing not just each other, but deer and so forth.
If PETA wants to make believe that humans have not been or never were predators- which is not even on the radar screen of evolutionary record in the least- all meat eaters, including man, have evolved with foward looking eyes, while the prey has eyes on the side of their head. It's pretty much that simple.
Sure, a grizzly bear can live on shrubs alone, but it doesn't. A coyote eats berries just like humans do. Mountain Lions eat a specific type of vegetation. Point being so do humans.
PETA wants to alter reality- they're living in a pipe dream world which they have turned into a cult.
I'll take the most natural source of protein I can get- my elk and deer meet thank you very much.
I suppose these fellows were supposed to call in a predator to torture the deer to death. What a crock PETA is.
That aside, I don't understand why the wretched animals weren't shot.
You totally nailed it there, buddy! The PETAnoids use fanatically distorted ethics and biology to promote themselves. Animals will kill, exploit, and occasionally, TORTURE each other - they are not instinctually "better than us."
The foward (stereo depth-perceiving) vision is a good point you brought up. They also want to dismiss that humans have canine teeth ("but they are small"). Another myth they promote is that we have relatively long, herbivore digestive tract (like a cow)instead of a short, carnivore tract (like a cat). In fact, we have a medium, OMNIVORE tract. It's that simple.
But still, it can be fun to read how irrational and emotional some of their tirades can get.
Not a lot of fun, but it had to be done.
Question for hunters & shooters- couple of years back, a full grown bull got loose in north houston- running around through parking lots, trying to gore cars, posing a threat to people (nobody actually injured)
What do you do if you happen to have a rifle in your truck, and you see this? On the one hand, it would seem logical to kill the animal before it killed a human, or got maimed in traffic. On the other hand, what are the legal ramifications? Would you do it if there were TV cameras present? Do you offer your rifle to a police officer, and let him/her take the shot? My gut instinct is to let well enough alone unless I think the animal is posing an *immediate* threat to a human.
Thoughts?
No matter if we're POSITIVE a deer is dead, we slit the throat.
PETA doesn't know, once again, what it's talking about.
There's a lot of folks around Oceana so human safety was likely a valid concern.
I suspect the real problem was this..
brought the episode to light after being contacted by several eyewitnesses who were upset by how the workers handled the situation and how the deer were put to rest.
Gawkers who didn't have anything better to do.
A few years back we had a deer hit by a car at work. The poor pathetic thing hid in the woods for three days, till finally he was found. We called our local Police Department, who dispatched two officers. Officer #1 stands over the deer, who was pretty immobile at this point, and shoots at him four (4) times, without killing him. Officer #2 steps in and finishes him off with only three (3) more shots.
If it can take as many as seven shots to put down a deer (I wouldn't have believed it if I hadn't seen it myself), can you imagine seven shots ricocheting of that concrete? It wouldn't be a question of if somebody was hit, it would be a question of who was going to be hit, and how many times.
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