Dear Honourable Gerry Taft,

As a resident of British Columbia I am urging you to please reconsider your council’s plan to trap and kill deer via captive-bolt gun in an attempt to reduce deer populations.

I have vacationed in Invermere often and will no longer do so if the municipality continues with this plan. I will also urge other friends and family to avoid Invermere.

Trapping deer is extremely cruel and every second spent in a cage is terrifying for these easily frightened and vulnerable prey animals. Deer can badly injure themselves in frantic attempts to get free and endure pain and suffering as a result.

In order to be killed via captive-bolt gun, trapped deer are tackled and restrained and often bound by their legs, which only adds to their terror and often causes additional injury. Lethal initiatives also tear families apart and leave young animals vulnerable to starvation and dehydration.

Deer are not predatory animals and they do not intentionally seek out human interactions. Any conflicts that arise are an example of our encroachment into wild and natural habitats.

Please allow nature to take its course and instead urge your community to embrace the deer and take safety precautions when in a shared environment. It is my firm belief that this will better sustain your tourist industry.

Lorry-Ann Austin

Kamloops