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Sign petition to protect deer in Rock Creek Park

Sign petition to protect deer in Rock Creek Park

IDA is part of a coalition of dedicated Washington residents and attorneys fighting the National Park Service’s plan to kill deer in Rock Creek Park

Please help us by signing this petition! 

[singlepic id=204 w=320 h=240 float=right]The tranquil and historic Rock Creek Park in Washington, DC has been a safe place for native deer for more than 120 years, until now.

The National Park Service (NPS) has recently ordered the killing of half of the park’s 314 deer, allegedly to protect native plant species. But the agency’s own records show that there is no overpopulation, and no need for such drastic and inhumane measures.

If the brutal NPS plan is not stopped, deer will be shot with guns and bows after being lured to piles of grain, apples and hay. Others would be killed after capturing them with nets and shooting them in the head with penetrating steel captive-bolt guns.

Bow hunting has an over 50% wounding rate, and many deer run off to die a painful, prolonged death. Deer trapped under a net frequently break their legs while thrashing frantically and screaming in terror. Sometimes the bolt-gun is misfired into the eye, jaw, ear or nose – the agent must reload the bolt gun to try again. Death from the bolt-gun is often not immediate, adding more prolonged suffering for the already terrified animals.

Your voice is important!  Please sign this petition to urge the NPS to abandon their cruel plan for a deer massacre and, instead, to fulfill their mandate of protecting Rock Creek Park’s resident deer.

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