To The Editor: Hochul’s contest blunder
Recently NYS Governor Kathy Hochul launched “Take your shot,” a distasteful play on words offering free lifetime hunting licenses and ‘deluxe hunting equipment,’ to entice hunters to get Covid vaccinations. This questionable vaccine campaign bribery effort, paid for by the state, was accompanied by a photo of geese flying peacefully in the sunset.
This governor vowed to ‘usher in a new era of civility and consensus in state govt’ – but she has forgotten ‘civility.’ This is a convenient vote grab deflection at a time when NYS is facing burgeoning crime rates, unemployment, etc. In fact there is a bill in the NYS legislature that would ban such killing contests, S6643/A5746. There is no place for such barbaric ‘contests’ in modern society.
Worse, Hochul has conjoined herself with the NYSDEC, a problematic agency that justexpanded the state-choreographed carnage to include a ‘holiday hunt,’ an extra week of animal slaughter that was even opposed by the NYS Snowmobile Assn and several counties. People aren’t safe either: There were several recent human hunting fatalities, one right here in NYS on 11/29; all have been downplayed. While US Fish/Wildlife reports that hunting is losing popularity, NYS is rushing to increase it. The DEC is staffed by law with hunters and operates for hunters; it discriminates against non-hunters by denying them a position on their advisory board. Wildlife agencies all over the U.S. are facing demands by non-hunters to have ‘a seat at the table.’
The DEC panders to hunters although our state parks are overwhelmingly used for ‘non-consumptive’ recreation – i.e. hiking, photography etc. This agency outrageously holds ‘canned hunts’ – the easy slaughter of tame animals in a no-escape enclosure; how are they able to receive state and federal funding? There is no ‘growing interest in hunting’ as DEC Comm. Basil Seggos states. The DEC caters to a small fraction of the public, only 3% of the public in NYS hunts; the DEC has now put guns into the hands of 12 yr olds in order to boost license sales, safety and compassion be damned. This is who Hochul aligns herself with. There are bills in congress addressing the egregious and unchecked activity of similar wildlife ‘mgmt’ agencies; even Westchester County Executive George Latimer, as a senator, introduced the ‘Right to Know’ bill that would require more transparency and accountability of the DEC.
According to Wildlife Watch, a New Paltz-based wild animal advocacy group, the Bureau of Wildlife Management – a division of the DEC – siphons from the General Fund yet contributes nothing to it. Consider this: the other two major industries that carry federal excise taxes are alcohol and tobacco, but unlike the firearms excise tax, which goes to wildlife management agencies at a federal and state level, the excise taxes on alcohol and tobacco go to the general fund where the money is used for the needs of the general public: education, housing, health, etc.
Especially since hunters are a tiny minority here, it’s extraordinary that state government has a dedicated bureau entirely devoted to providing hunters with wild animal targets. Clearly, the purpose is to get firearms and ammunition purchased, as well as bows and arrows. ‘There’s an immediate need for taxpayer funds to be spent to battle coronavirus and a collapsing economy,’ according to the League of Humane Voters of NY. Hochul should give that some attention instead of offering up our wildlife as bait for prizes.
In 2022 everyone is aware that animals are not blocks of wood or carnival targets – they are sentient and intelligent, have families they love, and experience pain and suffering; they are just like us. Yet the government’s treatment of animals is appalling. The world is changing; to Gov Hochul and every elected official: Don’t use their death as a contest incentive. In 2022 humane advocates expect to be acknowledged and have a decision-making seat at the table. Understand that we vote and do not accept animal slaughter to be ‘humor,’ or ‘contests’ – or their demise treated as a ‘perk’ for getting a vaccine while aligning with an agency urgently in need of investigation and oversight.
Kiley Blackman, Founder
Animal Defenders of Westchester
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Letter: We Need to Protect Our Voting Rights
To The Editor,
One year ago, we witnessed an attack on our country: an insurrection by political extremists at the U.S. Capitol. A mob of violent rioters defaced the Capitol Building and threatened the lives of the elected officials and staff working there—the core of American democracy. This was a pivotal moment for America and our fundamental promise of free and fair elections.
One year out from that horrible day, Congress has yet to secure the right to vote and the integrity of our elections—while state and county governments are passing laws to make it harder to vote. Hours-long lines and oppressive ID requirements are only the beginning, unless Congress acts.
The Senate must pass the Freedom to Vote Act and the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act; both bills are essential to the survival of the American experiment. The House of Representatives has already passed them. We can’t let made-up Senate rules stand in the way of protecting our democracy.
Fighting for our democracy by passing voting rights legislation is one of the most important actions we can take as we commemorate this attack on our country.
Sincerely,
Kimberly Fenty, Yonkers
