Tell Mt. Lebanon: No More Deer Killings - In Defense of Animals

It will be a year tomorrow when we had the Andrew McNitt dog and pony show on toxic turf. In ten days, we will have the Tony DeNicola dog and pony show on why we need to kill more deer. The media circus has begun, Susan. It's going national again.

It's showtime.

mtl -- Mt. Lebanon Magazine

Yesterday at 1:43pm · Edited · 

The first of three special Commissions sessions to review and refine goals is Monday, June 22, at 6 p.m. at Mt. Lebanon HIgh School Fine Arts Theater. The topic is deer management. Other sessions are Monday, July 27, at 6 p.m. on pedestrian/vehicle safety and Saturday, August 8, at 8:30 a.m. on financial trends/public outreach (locations to be announced). The purpose of these sessions is to allow Commissioners time to have in-depth conversations about complex topics. The deer management meeting will feature invited experts in various deer management strategies. The public is welcome to attend but there will be no opportunity for comment. All meetings will be videotaped and webcast at www.mtlebanon.org the following day. Residents may comment on any of the issues at regularly scheduled commission meetings.

Tell Mt. Lebanon: No More Deer Killings - In Defense of Animals 

It’s Time for Non-lethal Methods!

Your help is needed in persuading commissioners in Mt. Lebanon, Pennsylvania to abandon any plans to repeat a cruel and unpopular deer killing.

The municipality of Mt. Lebanon, a Pittsburgh suburb, recently abandoned its plans for a large urban deer kill, 11 days short of its scheduled end date with six deer killed out of a planned 150.

The killing method was opposed by animal protection groups and hunters alike for its especially inhumane nature. The plan was to bait deer – many of them pregnant does – into a small corral, then close the gate remotely, and shoot them. Shockingly, it took 11 bullets on the first day to kill three deer caught in the corral, and the average waiting time for deer in the pen before killing was an astonishing 90 minutes.

The premature end to the killing, and low kill numbers were blamed on spring weather enabling deer to find food elsewhere and on interference from protesters. Amazingly, despite the epic failure of this misguided plan and despite the rift created in the municipality, commissioners seem intent on pursuing a lethal method in the fall and may even consider using the corral method once again, claiming that it will work better in fall or winter.