Deer Overpopulation - When Feeling Good Trumps Suffering

There is a small nature area, a rare place in a big urban area, that was home to a few deer. As time went by, the deer proliferated in the absence of any predator. A biologist in the area warned that deer overpopulation results in degraded habitat, a reduction in other wildlife that could no longer survive in the deer caused overgrazed degraded landscape, and ultimately starvation, disease and suffering to the deer because their needs outstripped the available food resources. When it was decided to cull the deer population, this received an enormous outcry from people that were never around watching deer become diseased, starved, and hit by cars, but all of sudden wanted to save the deer. Their arguments included that deer were there first, before people(people arrived hundreds of years earlier to the area), and therefore the deer had the right to stay. Now of course no one was going to tear down their house to increase deer habitat, and even if they did, it would only be a quick matter of time before the deer overran any increase in habitat size. Because of pressure, the deer population was not culled, and the deer were left to die of disease and starvation. Meanwhile, the park service fenced off more areas in the park to protect vegetation, and thereby deprive the deer of even more of their limited food source. And so the deer suffered, especially in the cold winter when food is limited and their already underweight bodies could not adequately protect them from the cold. Some deer were hit by cars. There was no end to this sad state of affairs. What would it take, one person lamented, before the public acted responsibly? The spread of disease to humans caused by deer from such things as Lyme disease? A car accident where someone was badly hurt by running into a deer? The so called deer loving animal lovers, blind to any argument regarding the spread of disease, suffering to the deer, hardship to other wildlife populations that results directly from deer overpopulation, disappeared from the scene, having won their hollow victory. Proving once again that the worst friend an animal could often have is a so called animal lover. It is their need to feel good that comes first, not the welfare of animals or an ecosystem. And of course, no animal organization took a stand, always aware of the need to keep donations flowing and never rock a boat. Interestingly, two expensive ideas raised by the so called animal lovers, transplanting deer populations(which studies show results in poor survival rates for the transplanted deer)and sterilization(costly, complicated and not effective but better than nothing) were ultimately rejected because the "save the deer people" were unwilling to foot the bill. In the end, the deer were left behind, out of sight, out of mind, to starve and suffer.