Arlington, Virginia Citizens Oppose Culling Deer and Support Non-Lethal Deer Management

© No Hunting (Bambi) by Dana Ellyn

Arlington, Virginia is an educated and compassionate community.

In Virginia, white-tailed deer and other native wildlife belong to no one individual. They are held in trust by the Commonwealth for the benefit of all Virginians.

Communities must understand the nature of deer-human conflicts and try already available means and establish peaceful coexistence with deer. The issue might not be deer overpopulation, but learning to live equally with them.

The white-tailed deer is the most common deer species in the United States. Tragically, the killing of white-tailed deer in urban American cities as a means of population control is widespread and widely accepted. Culling deer is equivalent to government sanctioned hunting.

Lethal approaches to managing white-tailed deer populations in urban areas are outdated, ineffective, and inhumane. Deer respond to declines in their populations by reproducing more quickly, therefore, killing deer must be continued year after year.

The humane and evidence proven non-lethal method of sterilizing female white-tailed deer to manage populations using PZP must become a standard. PZP (Porcine Zona Pellucida) is a vaccine used to control the fertility of animals.

Although PZP is federally registered by the United States Environmental Protection Agency, state approval is required to use it on white-tailed female deer. Although, it is not approved in Virginia, Virginia State Code § 29.1-508.1 states that PZP is legal with written permission for research fieldwork purposes.

Culling white-tailed deer as a means of population control negatively impacts many American cities including our community of Arlington, Virginia. Arlington residents care about white-tailed deer and the dangers of shooting deer near our homes.

We want the Arlington, Virginia County Board to follow the science, reflect our values, reverse their decision to employ lethal deer management, and implement a non-lethal deer management program that will benefit deer, other wildlife, plant life, and the entire Arlington community.

We want the Arlington County Board to rescind their amendments to the County’s Firearms ordinance and Miscellaneous Offenses and Provisions of the Arlington County Code, that permits the discharge of firearms for county-supervised contracted professional sharpshooting as a method of deer management.

Arlington, Virginia must set a humane and educated precedent for surrounding counties and cities throughout the United States that already employ ineffective and inhumane lethal deer managements plans as well as municipalities that are considering the use of lethal deer management.

We intend to legitimize PZP contraception as a lawful deer management option in Virginia. Together, we can change the future and establish peaceful coexistence with deer in Arlington, Virginia and the entire United States.

About the Artist: Dana Ellyn is one of Washington, DC's most successful established artists. Her art is widely collected by history buffs, animal rights activists, and a growing number of art enthusiasts of all tastes around the globe. Visit www.danaellyn.com