Killing Bears in New Jersey is wrong!!
April 29, 2005
To the Editors:
It is profoundly unfortunate that the Home News Editorial Board has decided to equate slaughtering New Jersey's native black bears with good science. Killing bears is not the answer as there are neutering programs developed by scientists that keep bear populations in check, in addition to programs that teach homeowners how to keep their garbage secure from bears. Why not call for implementing these non-lethal programs instead of justifying unnecessary bloodshed in our last, remaining woodlands? And why not at least acknowledge that the recent bear hunt in New Jersey resulted in hunters shooting any bear that they came across: from bearcubs to mature males. Thousands of New Jersey residents who may have been indifferent to the bear hunt were revolted by the heart-sickening image of the mortally wounded bear cub who was shot by a hunter and died a slow, painful death on a New Jersey highway. We are not convinced that one stray bear means that there is an overpopulation of bears in our area, as your editorial contends. You have lost our respect as you have chosen to advocate violence over non-violence.
P.S. When Albert Schweitzer was only seven or eight years old he already discovered an intuitive form of his "reverence for life" philosphy: "One spring, a friend invited him to go to a place where they could shoot birds with a sling-shot. Though the idea was repugnant to the young Schweitzer, he went along, fearing that his friend might laugh at him if he didn't. They found a bird singing in a tree. His companion put a stone in the leather catapult and Schweitzer, determined to be brave and manly, did the same. At that very moment the bells of a church began to ring. Schweitzer felt it was a voice from heaven, reminding him of the wrongness of senseless killing. He shooed the bird away and ran home."
posted by agn @ 8:01 AM
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