Proposed spring deer season now is a terrible idea

As the volunteer president of Wildlife Rescue Inc., my phone blew up with calls and emails from people who were shocked and disgusted by Anne Arundel County Executive Steuart Pittman’s idea to kill deer in the spring (“Anne Arundel sees deer as a resource to meet coronavirus demand for food aid,” May 6).

As Mother’s Day approaches, mother deer appropriately are giving birth to their babies. Some mothers have already given birth and, if killed under Mr. Pittman’s ill-thought out plan, their babies would be left to starve to death. We are also dealing with limited opportunities for recreational activities during COVID-19, when people so desperately want to just go for a walk. So let’s not endanger people’s lives and have them also have to worry about being accidentally shot by a hunter, too.

What is really mind-boggling is how little meat this might produce at such a great risk not only to our lives, but also to our hearts for shooting mothers just as they are ready to give birth or letting their babies starve to death. Food insecurity is horrible, especially as chicken and pig farms are slaughtering animals and letting the meat rot rather than donating that meat to food banks, but this is not the answer. I know some people will use any excuse to kill deer even while turning a blind eye to non-lethal deer management, but there is a reason we don’t have a deer hunting season in the spring or summer. There is a reason farmers and hunters don’t kill deer this time of the year: They don’t want to kill pregnant mothers!

Enid Feinberg, Phoenix