How very sad. I pray for the day when humanity views other critters as co-creators, and not possessions. We have violated any pretense at 'stewardship' over and over and over again. Why we thought we were gods to the other animals is beyond me.

That's a very sad story.  Humans habituated this deer, and instead of relocating it the  solution is murder.  It says a great deal about the callousness of humans and their lack of regard for the natural world.

That's sad. He didn't seem vicious.

At the Elemntary school I was at today they had their incident talk. Students rotated through different stations were they talked about proper responses to unexpected happenings.

One was what to do if you see a deer? The answer was quietly walk away.

Seeing a deer is unexpected?  I usually quietly watch if I have the time :)

 

What was the reasoning for killing this deer?  Were they worried it would hurt someone?

Yes chemgal - it is a male deer, and mating season is approaching, so the likelihood of sexual aggression toward 'familiar objects' - in this case humans - was stated as a concern in the interview and article. 

Seeing a deer has always given me a special thrill.  Although I admit that I've never been this close to one, there have been times I've been out picking berries or otherwise in the woods and sat down for a breather when a deer has appeared out of nowhere, come up close enough to sniff the air around me, and then trotted offf.  At times like that I felt blessed.  Just catching a glimpse of a deer in the woods was always something pleasant to talk about at the dinner table..   I do see the problem with this deer - it is too tame.  It is supposed to be a wild animal, wary of humans.  But perhaps people have fed it, petted it, coaxed it up close.  Feeding deer is prohibited in this province yet people do it all the time.  Many semi-tame deer get hit by cars while passing between houses.  Others are easy game during hunting season.  Enjoy them in their natural habitation and let them be.

I saw an article about it after commenting.  They think it was raised by humans.

 

I can understand not relocating it in that case.  There are so many 'zoos', many with animals they shouldn't have.  I wonder if they even bothered to contact a few of the better ones, or even the good real zoos to see if anyone would take this deer first.

Update:

 

just talked with my brother:

 

he wasn't a yearling -- he was older

 

the spokeswoman for the Coldstream Officers said that because he wasn't an endangered species they didn't look into other options

 

i do hope that those who murdered him at least felt something

Sadly, a lot of people around here think of deer as being nothing but a nuisance - and therefore see no problems with killing them. Deer in this city are almost as tame as the one in the video/article. I have been almost as close to a deer as the guy in the video - close enough that I could have reached out and touched it (but chose not to). In my case, it was dusk and I was out walking. I didn't notice the family of deer until I was probably 10 feet away from them. I stopped in my tracks and started talking calmly to them. One of the deer approached me and made eye contact, as if it wanted to check me out. Once it realized I wasn't a threat, it went back to snacking on the grass. I remained standing there for a couple of more minutes. I was never scared (I've never heard of a deer around here hurting someone) - just simply clinging on to a sacred moment.

 

Well, there's this:

 

Gen 1:26 (KJV) - And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.

 

It's a part of our culture to treat the rest of nature as our possessions, no?  And we re-print it many millions of times.
 

WE have arrived at some very unhealthy relationships with wild animals.

 

We destroy their habitat, we hunt them for "trophies", we sentimentalise and anthropomorphise them, we get annoyed by the "damage" they do to "our" "property", we "manage" their populations, degrade their habitats, interrupt their movement with highways and "development", we kill them when they pose any sort of threat, we have not a clue about (or any respect for) their needs… and we have assimilated most of what we know about them from sources like kiddy books and Walt Disney. We are pathetic in our ignorance.

 

Then we weep when we see them orphaned or "euthanised".  At the same type, we kill snakes and spiders and insects indiscriminately — they make the mistake of frightening us — and we catter toxins left, right and centre. We are allowing big-"farma" to decimate the honey bees and other pollinators that keep us in fruit and vegetables… all for the convenience of biogas manufacture.

 

Wild is wonderful but it is wild. To understand "wild" you have to make a deliberate effort to experience "wild" on wilderness' terms, not through lenses polished by urban excess and entertainment industry idiocy.

 

This is something that's become VERY difficult for most people to even attempt these days.

 

I can't pretend to ever have experienced "wild" in Canada… but I did experience "wild" ocean growing up in New Zealand. I find myself suppressing anger and frustration when I hear people express fear of sharks, for example. I KNOW sharks pose no serious threat because I have swum with them.  I also know that they need to be treated with respect… not with the goofy affection one might lavish on an inbred lapdog, but neither with the profligate viciousness of the shark-fin industry which is damaging the whole oceanic ecology.

 

In Canada,  I see a lot that we all could be learning from traditional native views of nature: theirs are views that, while embracing hunting to eat, also include deep bonds of respect and kinship.

 

If you feel sad for this psychologically muddled, "over-attached" deer, spare a thought for the brutalised pigs that pass in throngs through our intensive farms and blood-drenched abbatoirs.

 

 

 

 

 

Oh, yes, I know where it comes from. I'm just surprised we're arrogant enough to believe it.

MikePaterson,

 

i try to grok

 

one of my favourite authors, Piers Anthony, is one of those really good writers who can write good social commentary, but has to make a living, so he makes a living off of writing fantasy.  on topic:  he wrote this really smart & sharp short story aboot what you are talking aboot, it is called "in the barn"...you might  be able to find a copy of it online

 

also, this buck murder has finally knocked me out of my BS -- maybe things like Halal & Kosher are a people's ways of incorporating animals as something sacred instead of my culture's cold utility?

 

i have hopes for this vat grown meat concept -- i think it will, when it becomes mainstream, cut down on these horrific farms...

Hi Inanna: Thanks… found it. It's a fair head-slapping… and shamefully true.

 

I think it goes back to concepts like "ownership" and entitlement. By and large, hunter-gatheres HAVE to understand wild creatures and nature in order to survive, and this gives them a little more humility.

 

Farming starts the cruelty and "use" of land and animals… and pssession. 

 

Once that gets installed in The Economy, the same attitudes get expressed across the whole of the natural world, in forms ranging from mining and lumbering to bottled water and polluted air. Everything is then justified by reference to accounting standards… if it doesn't have a "value" it doesn't exist. And so there is no incentive or encouragement to understand impacts …many scientists try and they do persuade some people to start thinking, but it's a slow and painful shift.

 

The real "bottom line", of course, is that if we can't breathe the air or drink the water, we're all history… no matter what we think we "own". 

One of the most informative, and deeply disturbing books I have read is "Dominion; The Power of Man, the Suffering of Animals, and the Call to Mercy" by Matthew Scully.

Scully examines trophy hunting of animals, commercial whaling, poaching of species such as elephants and the reasons, and delves deeply into the cruel slaughter of animals on factory farms and the abhorrent conditions of life for chickens, pigs, cattle...witnessed first hand. 

A critic states, "Matthew Scully reminds us that we are stewards of God's creatures and that, as stewards, we are called to treat all animals with kindness, empathy, and a merciful spirit...."

 

If we want attitudes to change towards the natural world and its creatures, then we need to be the voice and the force for change.

As we speak low frequency active sonar and seismic testing is causing mass stranding and death of pilot whales, while the annual dolphin slaughter is taking place in Japan.   Africa's western black rhino is now officially extinct.  Unless we act decisively and quickly, the world's bee population is doomed.   But the almighty dollar is the world's new god...

 

 

Absolutely right, Mike....

"The real "bottom line", of course, is that if we can't breathe the air or drink the water, we're all history… no matter what we think we "own".

Bob Comis, meat farmer who raises sentient, expressive animals

 

He has a blog

 

HP has also printed some of his articles.

 

When a hunter shoots a deer for food is that also murder? I know a few hunters who are fairly well off and can do without the deer meat because their freezers are full of other meats but they also enjoy venison and moose meat. I just think if we are going to use the word murder then we should use it properly. Here is a definition of murder in the Criminal Code of Canada.

http://www2.canada.com/vancouversun/features/pickton/story.html?id=ffa77705-640d-4d47-9cad-729b648abbe5

On wild animals' behaviour around humans... Today, on my break, a seagull stole my lunch!! What a jerk! ;) I was outside sitting on a bench- on the phone and looking the other direction, my lunch beside me half eaten, bag open. I turned around and there a seagull was, pecking at it. Then, when it saw that I noticed it started dragging away the bag in its beak. It even managed to grab one handle! I watched it drag my lunch into the courtyard ( I was both miffed and fascinated), and another seagull swooped in and started fighting with the other one over a banana and half eaten potato salad. They were squaking at each other. I was nervous to get between them- they were pretty aggressive. I waited a minute until they calmed down a bit and backed away a little, then I went over and picked up the litter and threw it in the garbage. But what a sight! And I was a little hungry the rest of the day.