Members of the BC Deer Protection Coalition (BCDPC) conducted an impromptu protest Saturday afternoon (Feb. 16) at the junction of Victoria Avenue and Cranbrook’s Strip.

Seeking to raise awareness, the BCDPC stated in a press release that it “condemns the decision” of City of Cranbrook council to have the city conduct a second cull, with a 30 mule deer quota this time.

“Culls are cruel and they simply don’t work. If the cull goes anything like last year, many more than 30 mule deer will die,” said Colleen Bailey, spokesperson for Humane Treatment of Urban Wildlife (HTUW), a member of BCDPC.  “Of the 25 deer that died last year, just under half were white-tails. I would suggest that any deer caught in the traps are dead deer. But of course we won’t know because as the city states, ‘the city will not at this time be providing any additional details surrounding the population reduction activities.’”

Cranbrook voted to conduct a second cull in the spring of 2012 and in October city officials announced that the cull was on hold pending the Invermere Deer Protection Society (IPDS) court challenge with the District of Invermere.

Mayor Wayne Stetski expressed concern about repercussions if the court found fault with Invermere’s methods since Cranbrook relied on the same public involvement process, the BCDPC press release notes.

“Despite the mayor’s concerns, Cranbrook Council confirmed a deer cull over the next few weeks and in fact did so in secret,” said Devin Kazakoff, IPDS spokesperson and member of BCDPC. “Why was the mayor worried about Invermere’s court case in October 2012 and not in February 2013?  And why, if his concern was about the public consultation process, would Cranbrook conduct the most recent meetings in secret?”

“We condemn the assertion that public safety is at risk if the city releases any details of the cull,” Bailey continued.  “The city is simply using this as an excuse to conduct the entire operation under the cover of secrecy. Opponents of the cull have simply exercised their democratic right to be part of an open and transparent decision making process and this right was removed by Council when it held secret meetings. We will continue to reach out to the community as we have done in the past. We will seek their assistance in report the locations of the traps and we are committed to monitoring the traps during this cull period.”

E-KNOW has not yet received a response from Mayor Stetski or city administration in regards to a response to BCDPC statements.

An on-the-spot posting of a brief video (see here: IMG_1450) to e-KNOW’s Facebook page has resulted in an explosion of comments about the issue. See it here:

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=10151500329991133

Ian Cobb/e-KNOW

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