Aren deer culls a way to prevent deer from dying of starvation or chronic wasting disease?
There is no evidence that deer are starving anywhere in Connecticut. When we hear people say that “the deer are going to starve, therefore we should hunt them so they don’t starve,” we believe that they’re playing on the public’s sense of compassion. It is completely illogical to make the argument that we should prevent deer from dying by killing them. In terms of chronic wasting disease (CWD), this is a serious neurological disease that affects deer, elk and moose. In Connecticut in 2007, a total of 583 testable samples were collected from deer harvested during the hunting seasons and from road-killed deer throughout the state. All tests were negative for CWD.
