REENWICH, Conn., Dec. 9 — When a deer hunt was proposed on 285 acres of pristine open land here owned by the Audubon center, it was not surprising that hunters, animal rights activists and bird lovers found themselves locked in battle. Posted on 12/10/2003 12:12:57 AM PST by sarcasm
REENWICH, Conn., Dec. 9 — When a deer hunt was proposed on 285 acres of pristine open land here owned by the Audubon center, it was not surprising that hunters, animal rights activists and bird lovers found themselves locked in battle.
What was surprising was who was caught in the crossfire — Fairfield County's homeless.
It started innocently enough when the Audubon, looking for ways to reduce the number of deer that had the run of the place, asked that any deer killed in the hunt go to feed the hungry. Similar programs have resulted in some 28,000 pounds of venison going to Connecticut charities in the last eight years. Hunters were happy with the proviso. Animal rights activists were not.
"I don't think we have to shoot the state's deer to feed the hungry," said Priscilla Feral, president of Friends of Animals in Darien, Conn.
Instead, her group has pledged to replace, pound-for-pound, the 1,600 pounds of venison that the local food bank would reap from the deer hunt with what it calls "cruelty free" vegan fare. That is, if the Audubon calls off its hunt. Even stricter than vegetarians, vegans avoid all animal products including eggs, milk and honey.
According to Ms. Feral, proposed menus could include tempeh London broil, lentil orzo casserole, carrot paté, wheat-free apple pie and other specialties her organization is developing for a vegan cookbook called "Dining With Friends," which is soon to be published.
The only hitch is, for the homeless and the people who look after them this is one tiff they would rather miss. "The homeless should not be caught in the middle," said Donna Price, director of the New Covenant House of Hospitality, a Stamford soup kitchen. "If there's a debate to kill the deer or not, it should not affect the homeless."
Front and center in the squall is Audubon Greenwich, an operating unit of the National Audubon Society. The national group describes itself as a leading advocate of "birds, wildlife and the places they need to survive." But with its focus on birds, the Greenwich center says its hands are tied now that several species of ground-nesting birds are being driven away by deer. Ten members of its staff have contracted Lyme disease or other illnesses spread by deer ticks. It wants the number of deer living on its property, estimated at 60, pruned to less than 10 within three years.
It struck an agreement with the Greenwich Sportsmen & Landowners Association, whose members participate in the Hunters for the Hungry program. The early morning hunts began on Nov. 3 and will run through January. In exchange for being able to hunt with bows on the property, participants pledged to donate whatever they killed to the Lower Fairfield County food bank. "Hundred percent of it is going to the needy," said M. Robert DeLaney, a former chief financial officer for The Chicago Tribune who is one of the sportsmen.
But once Friends of Animals learned about the hunt in October, they charged that the homeless were being used. The animal rights group opposes hunting and is particularly incensed that a wildlife organization would sanction it. "A bow hunt on an Audubon sanctuary is obscene," Ms. Feral said.
She also said that feeding wild game to the homeless puts them at risk because state law allows hunters to donate meat without F.D.A. approval.
Among those who feed the hungry, reactions were less than keen to the "let them eat cake but only if it's wheat free" camp. Kate Lombardo, the executive director of the Lower Fairfield County Food Bank, said she, too, was no fan of hunting. But, she said, "I have a mission." So when free venison is being offered, "the most we can do is take it, ensure it's labeled appropriately and have it here if someone wants it."
She also pointed out that home-cooked or catered meals, along the lines of what Ms. Feral was suggesting, presented safety issues as well. "Are they in Health Department approved kitchens?" she asked. "There's arguments on both sides of the fence about food security and food handling."
There are also issues of personal preference. Jerome Roberts, operations manager for the Shelter for the Homeless in Stamford, said that the occasional macaroni-and-cheese dinner was always welcome, but that most of his clients "do like meat in their diet."
He said his organization was grateful for the 12 pounds of venison it recently received from Hunters for the Hungry, and he encouraged the animal rights group to step up as well, regardless of the status of the hunt. "If people have the wherewithal to make the donations, then make the donations." he said.
Thomas Baptist, the biologist who oversees National Audubon Society property in Connecticut, including the Greenwich site, said it was unlikely that his group would reconsider the hunt.
He said allowing the hunt was a difficult decision, one he embraced only after other options — like fencing the property or sterilizing the deer — proved unworkable. "This is not about deer hunting," he said. "This is about protecting biological diversity. This is about controlling a population that has increased to the point where they've endangered the biological health of the entire sanctuary."
Walking the property last week, as a hawk soared overhead, he visited several spots that he said had been ravaged by deer, including a 200-year-old apple orchard. He also pointed out large areas where the low-lying shrubs, saplings and wildflowers that birds depend on were vanishing. "This is where the ecological devastation is most severe," he said. "Everything is completely gone."
Participants in the hunt say that what they are doing is more public service than sport. Mr. DeLaney, for instance, has spent 40 days this fall in the tree stand he uses to hunt and has yet to pull his bow, he says, because of his insistence on getting a clean shot. John Michelotti, another Greenwich hunter, said he had fared better, but could still live without the leaf blowers and suburban traffic.
"This is horrible hunting, the worst," said Mr. DeLaney, whose office is filled with trophies from his travels: kudu from Zimbabwe, cougar from Idaho and bison from British Columbia. A spot awaits for the African lion he took with an arrow in July, though any Greenwich deer that come his way would go to the butcher, not the taxidermist.
Last Wednesday, in fact, Mr. Michelotti delivered 250 pounds of frozen venison, taken at the Audubon property and elsewhere in Greenwich by members of Hunters for the Hungry, to the Lower Fairfield County food bank for distribution. It was accompanied by a recipe by Ann Carroll Michelotti, his wife, for venison stew.
Hearing that some soup kitchens or shelters decline the free venison because it is a bit exotic, Ms. Michelotti offered to whip up samples so that the food bank's clients could become better acquainted with the culinary possibilities.
Ms. Feral said she, too, would explore ways of acquainting the local homeless population with meatless alternatives. In the meantime, she advised donors to withhold contributions to the Audubon center as a show of protest. "Members have no idea the organization has become a hunting group," she said, nor perhaps that the organization's namesake, John James Audubon, an early 19th century naturalist, mounted many of the birds he painted.
"Audubon shot one bird for every one he painted," Ms. Feral said.
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I don't get offended if you want to be removed.
Very true.
I read once that cults used protein-free diets to help the process of brainwashing the new 'recruits'. Those 'vegan' types sure seem like a bunch of whacked-out cultists to this meat eater. "Kill it, then grill it."
Typical left-wing facist. As if the state 'owns' the deer.
A contradiction in terms.
It was the same way where I grew up in the 60's. To see deer hoof-prints was a rare occurrence. Illinois allowed bow hunting in a majority of its 110 counties, but "shotgun" (rifled slug) hunting was limited to just a few. And the competition for the lottery drawing for the one deer permit was intense. Hundreds of thousands of applicants for 20,000 to 30,000 "buck only" permits. And the State dictated which county your permit was good in for the six day hunt over two weekends in November and December.
Now the damned deer are considered a pest in even rural Illinois and my best friend is allowed to take 17 a year with his landowner/nuisance license.
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