Alberta- Deer cull sparks protests

A helicopter carries the bodies of deer, dangling by cables, to an eight-metre deep pit in this photo taken Feb. 28 on farmland north of Provost, Alta. (Photo supplied by Duane Morrell)

A rising body count has fuelled protests by Provost-area residents against a government deer cull designed to stop the spread of chronic-wasting disease (CWD).

The latest pictures, snapped Feb. 28 about 16 km north of Provost (292 km southeast of Edmonton) by Duane Morrell, a member of the Provost and District Fish and Game Association, show the grim reality of the systematic killing.

Bloody deer carcasses litter the snow-covered fields. A helicopter carries the bodies, dangling by cables, to an eight-metre deep pit. Their heads removed for testing but their meat and hides un-harvested, scores of deer are stacked up along the bottom of the trench.

“After following the helicopter around and witnessing the amount of deer harvested on the 28th, there is no possible way that the deer could be processed in the four-hour time period allowed by the government, leading to the disposal of mass quantities of meat that any hunter would face charges for,” Morrell said.

Dave Schmidt explained that association members consider the cull to be overkill – taking a high number of animals for the number of deer testing positive for CWD – and resent the province’s methods and the cost of the cull.

But he adds that a protest campaign targeting the current minister of Sustainable Resource Development, Ted Morton, is helping publicize their concerns.

edmontonsun.com - Alberta- Deer cull sparks protests