Just a few weeks ago, we asked for your support to stop the cruel and unnecessary slaughter of 100 deer in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Sadly, the City Council and Mayor voted to heartlessly eradicate 100 deer and incompetently sterilize another 63. This is the second year this city council and mayor have voted to needlessly kill deer.

The City of Ann Arbor failed to provide the public with any proof that it has an overpopulation of deer or that any of them have Lyme disease, that anyone has gotten sick as a result of the deer who live in the city, or that there is a deer/car collision issue.

The City of Ann Arbor voted to kill over 100 deer based on unsubstantiated, unsupported arguments as opposed to providing the public with scientifically proven, fact based data. The City is continuing to approve the biased recommendations of its primary “consultant,” the Washtenaw Citizens for Ecological Balance (more accurately the “Citizens for Slaughter”) to kill the deer. This group is comprised of a handful of people. One of the founders is not even a resident of Ann Arbor, but resides in Scio Township. The founders of Citizens for Slaughter were originally members of Wild Ones, a group which promoted natural landscapes. This organization is a self-anointed group of non-experts who want to slaughter deer to protect their own landscaping, even though there are countless solutions available on how to deter deer from any garden.

The City of Ann Arbor did not make decisions based on factual data or science, only personal preference. The City has failed to care for the safety of the residents by introducing high powered weapons in a city with a population of over 112,000 and has a non-hunting ordinance in place.

Additionally, the planned sterilization method is ineffective and cruel. During and after the sterilization process, many deer die as a consequence of capture or surgical complications due to infections from this procedure, performed by a hired contractor called White Buffalo, in unsanitary conditions. In fact, the East Hampton Star wrote that East Hampton Village in New York, where White Buffalo was the hired contractor to conduct the sterilization of deer that commenced in the winter of 2015, had denounced the program. It was intended to continue to span over five years, but due to the inhumane mutilation and cruelty to deer, the residents asked the board to abandon the remaining three years of the sterilization plan and implement the immunocontraception method, which has been proven to be cruelty free and effective in not only reducing deer populations but maintaining them.

Despite the significant amount of public outcry from around the world, asking the Ann Arbor City Council to stop the unnecessary slaughter of deer and implement non-lethal methods to peacefully co-exist with the deer, the City disregarded the voices of the people. They will begin terrorizing, torturing and implementing methods which inflict extreme amount of cruelty to the deer. The City ignored expert advice on using safe and effective non-lethal methods and has refused to implement the most humane and effective program of GonaCon immunocontraception. which has already received EPA approval and is ready for implementation. GonaCon immunocontraception is the superior method which has been proven to be 100% effective with only two doses.

We thank you for your support, and will continue to fight for the deer or Ann Arbor. If you live in the area and can help, please contact us. If you are willing to fight and write for deer threatened because of claimed “overpopulation” in your own area, please also contact us for advice.