OpinionWESTCHESTER RISING
The NYS Dept of Environmental Conservation (DEC) runs a yearly ‘Pheasant Hunt’ – which in fact consists of the DEC stocking non-native baby birds specifically to be released ‘good training tools’ for hunters to kill. One hunter happily refers to them as birds “planted here’ for hunters. Another stated, “It’s unrealistic for an aspiring hunter in the East to plan a trip to South Dakota to hunt wild pheasants on public ground. But if they can find a place near home to chase some planted birds and get an idea of what pheasant hunting is like, well, maybe they’ll eventually grow into a dedicated bird hunter one day.”
The facts are each year the DEC places orders for thousands of non-natve baby birds raised in confinement, dependent on humans for everything, including food, water, and shelter. They are then shipped to unfamiliar surroundings with none of the necessary survival skills to find their own food, escape predators, avoid cars etc….and are released to be shot by hunters as a bizarre, cruel ‘target practice.’ The DEC justifies this pitiful slaughter as “offering a highly accessible gateway to the outdoors and an ideal introduction for hunters from non-traditional pathways.’ In meetings with DEC officials, we pointed out that an activity like skeet shooting would do the same, and no animals would have to die; this suggestion was ignored. The DEC admits this program is losing participants – but their response is to expand kill sites instead.
No living beings should be used as target practice for hunters. This unconscionable project was began by the NYS Conservation Fund Advisory Board, a DEC openly discriminatory division that deliberately excludes non-hunters from serving on its advisory board.
The DEC calls the slaughter of these birds ‘good training tools.’
It’s an election year. Please ask Governor Hochul to help terminate this program, which is a disgrace for NYS. Shooting stocked pheasants, dependant on humans for survival, isn’t hunting – it’s killing. Neither our wildlife, nor any living beings, are ‘training tools.’
Kiley Blackman
Founder
Animal Defenders of Westchester