I have always idealized, and defended, that residents of British Columbia and the government were for animal rights and conservation. A friend reminded me that in Canada, the barbaric seal slaughter continues. I couldnB次元官网网址檛 defend my country then.

Having recently relocated here after several years living out of the country, I am outraged and saddened that this is not the case with a large proportion of the population.

Conservation officers are killing bears and cougars just because they are seen in urban areas. Some readers were afraid of deer!

In Victoria, a bear and cougar that didnB次元官网网址檛 do anything dangerous were killed. The bear was backed into a corner by a pack of dogs and still did nothing. Yet, he was shot.

This paranoia for wild animals is why they are being killed B次元官网网址� this dangerously narrow-minded thinking and the laziness in not wanting to tranquilize the animals, or relocate them.

One reader even said that the deer will bring the cougars. Think again! We have a burgeoning deer population because there arenB次元官网网址檛 enough cougars.

Kill the deer because they are ruining your gardens? Please! WhatB次元官网网址檚 next? Will your neighbours feel they have the right to kill your dog if it ruins your plants?

Yes, there is a deer problem B次元官网网址� killing them is not the answer. We have created the problem with over-development. The animals have nowhere to go.

Since when did we feel that we could play God?

Remember the wise words of Chief Dan George:

B次元官网网址淚f you talk with the animals they will talk with you, and you will know each other. If you do not talk to them, you will not know them, and what you do not know, you will fear. What one fears, one destroys.B次元官网网址�

Kathryn Lowther

Victoria