BE A PRAYERFUL VOICE FOR THE CAYUGA HEIGHTS DEER --- PEACE MEDITATION VIGIL PLANNED THIS WEEK
It appears that time is running out for the beautiful deer of Cayuga Heights in Ithaca, New York.
The following story is adapted and reprinted with the permission of its author, James LaVeck an award-winning documentary filmmaker (The Witness & Peaceable Kingdom: The Journey Home) and a 20-year resident of Ithaca, NY. He is one of the co-founders of CayugaDeer.org, Ithacans for Safe, Rational and Ethical Solutions to Deer Human Conflict. The original opinion piece was published in the Ithaca Times on June 24, 2009.
UPDATE --- Dates and times are set for the PEACE MEDITATION and SILENT VIGIL for the Cayuga Heights Deer --- both of which are ONLINE observances. Join the ONLINE PEACE MEDITATION FOR THE CAYUGA DEER on SUNDAY, AUGUST 23rd @ 8:00pm EDT, 7:00pm CDT, 6:00pm MDT & 5:00pm PDT (& AZ) and then rejoin us the next day for an ONLINE SILENT VIGIL FOR THE CAYUGA DEER on Monday, August 24th @ 7:00pm EDT, 6:00pm CDT, 5:00pm MDT & 4:00pm PDT (& AZ) --- as we, in spirit, stand alongside those who, at the very same time, are actually attending the town meeting that may decide the Deer's fate. Each event may be accessed at http://www.peaceanimal.com . We ask for nothing more than your welcomed presence to silently read the Meditation and Vigil documents at the times noted above. If you have friends or acquaintances with whom you feel this message would resonate, we enthusiastically encourage you to invite them. The Mayor and Trustee have silenced the voices or the voiceless --- our hope is to inspire them with the power of silence when many come together, in PEACE, for a common purpose. We'd be honored to have you join us!
Cayuga Heights -- a village embedded within the larger community of Ithaca, New York -- has been said to have the most Ph.D's per capita of any municipality in America. Yet its trustees are about to approve a dangerous, immoral, and frankly bizarre plan that would call for every single deer in the village to be either violated or killed. It seems these human-habituated animals’ appetite for tulips, heirloom tomatoes, and ornamental shrubbery has, in the minds of the current mayor and trustees, created a situation so dire and unacceptable, that action of the most extreme sort is not only justified, but urgently required.
The first phase of their plan involves capturing 30-60 female deer, surgically sterilizing them, then puncturing their ears with numbered tags and encumbering their necks with radio collars. These are the "lucky" individuals. The intended fate of every other deer in Cayuga Heights, including pregnant does and fawns, is to be shot dead at bait sites at undisclosed locations and times. This annually performed massacre will be carried out by out-of-town contractors who earn their living exterminating wildlife.
The ethical grotesquery of this plan appears to be lost on those who conceived it, who seem to be oblivious to the mental and emotional torture that will be experienced by the few deer chosen to survive, not to mention the many people who care about these gentle animals. Year after year, deer in and around Cayuga Heights will be lured by piles of corn into the kill zone, and those marked for survival will watch as their herd mates are brutally killed right in front of them. Were such a sadistic policy to be carried out against dogs or cats, or horses, an outraged crowd would spontaneously rise up to stop it. But the deer, ironically, because they live free of direct human control and are no individual's private property, are somehow seen as unworthy of moral consideration.
The plan was just announced in July, yet the village trustees voted to BAN ALL PUBLIC COMMENT about their deer-killing proposal at their August and September meetings, during which they are expected to approve this controversial proposal. Because those who have tried to be voice of the voiceless have been silenced themselves, we need people around the world to contact these legislators and demand that they let voices on all sides of the issue be heard, and that they adopt proven, non-violent alternatives to the outrageous killing plan they have proposed.
Do we really want to live in a society where bureaucrats meet behind closed doors to arbitrarily decide how many of each species are allowed to live, then send technicians out to mark the few chosen to survive as ornamental reminders of a bygone era, doomed to move among us as freaks festooned with the trappings of their utter domination by humans? Do we want to cover the eyes and ears of our children as unsuspecting animals are methodically executed in our neighbors' backyards?
There are many people in and around Cayuga Heights who, through wise plant choices, and skillful use of fencing and deer repellents, enjoy beautiful gardens without causing harm to anyone. Mass killing and extreme control of the area's indigenous wildlife is neither necessary, nor ethical, nor safe. And if it is scientific at all, it represents science at its most twisted.
Everything about this plan is emblematic of the mindset that is destroying our planet. Because the trustees of Cayuga Heights have rejected proven and practical non-violent approaches to reducing deer-human conflict, because they refuse against all reason to allow residents to erect fences high enough to safeguard their plantings, because they have silenced public comment on their controversial proposal -- should the rest of us just sit back and do nothing? Should we accept armed men firing deadly weapons in residential neighborhoods, to protect tulips? Or is it possible, with all the brilliant, creative and compassionate people living in Cayuga Heights and the Ithaca community, that a more sensible approach can be found?
WHAT YOU CAN DO!
IMPORTANT NOTE: If the links in the Animals & Religion (or other network) articles about the Cayuga Heights Deer do not work, PLEASE cut and past them into your browser to reach the desired URL. We apologize for the technical difficulties but please don't let them discourage you. It is likely that the future of the deer will be decided on Monday night --- we need your help! Thanks!
The voices for the voiceless in Cayuga Heights and Ithaca have been silenced. Help them be heard! Sign this petition, which will also send an automatic email to the Mayor and two key members of the board of trustees: http://tinyurl.com/r7nopp
Join the ONLINE PEACE MEDITATION FOR THE CAYUGA DEER on SUNDAY, AUGUST 23rd @ 8pm EDT, 7pm CDT, 6pm MDT & 5pm PDT (& AZ) and then rejoin us the next day for an ONLINE SILENT VIGIL for the CAYUGA DEER on Monday, August 24th @ 7pm EDT, 6pm CDT, 5pm MDT & 4pm PDT (&AZ) --- as we, in spirit, stand alongside those who are actually attending the town meeting that may decide the Deer's fate. We ask for nothing more than your presence to silently read the meditation at the times noted above. Both activities may be accessed at http://www.peaceanimal.com . In the meantime, please visit http://www.cayugadeer.org/#ActionItems for a full list of action items.
Post Conscience Cards of the decision makers on your web site, Facebook page or MySpace page. Learn more here: http://www.cayugadeer.org/conscience/gilmore.htm
Finally, if you can find time in your daily meditation, prayer or time of reflection, for the innocent Cayuga Heights Deer, please include them and those who are fighting so diligently to save their lives. Time is running out.
Posted by Kris Lecakes Haley, Animals & Religion Volunteer Group Manager