Please call your local Assembly and Senate representative and tell them to not allow this horrible cruelty!
This is an example of where NJ Fish & Wildlife’s interest lies. It is not with protecting our wildlife, or to maintain humane treatment of our wildlife. Please read in full and help stop this horrible act against our wildlife!
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE June 24, 2011Â Contact: Susan Russell (732) 219-9033/ selizabethrussell@verizon.net BIRD FRIENDS DECRY GAME COUNCIL PROPOSAL TO ALLOW POWERFUL WEAPON AGAINST 16-OUNCE DUCKS Public Comment due June 30 FAIR HAVEN – In a little-noted move, the New Jersey Fish and Game Council has proposed lifting the prohibition on crossbows for shooting migratory birds. The LEAGUE OF HUMANE VOTERS OF NEW JERSEY is crying foul. ?Blunt-tipped arrows, fired from a crossbow at 250-350 feet per second, depending on range and draw weight,[1] literally smash a hollow-boned bird, or whatever part of the bird the arrow hits,? said Susan Russell, wildlife policy specialist for LOHV and the Animal Protection League of New Jersey. ?Crippling and killing our wild birds by blunt force, for fun,[2] is an unconscionable indifference to animal welfare. The regulation should be withdrawn.? ?It is legal to shoot sitting ducks,? said Ms. Russell, the lobbyist and campaign director for New Jersey?s Wild Bird Law and statute banning steel-jaw traps. ?The proposed regulation is silent on the use of arrows against ducks resting on water and land. Razor-tipped broad head arrows tear the birds to shreds. Both the blunt and the broad head will go right through the birds.? Arrow paraphernalia includes ?bird points,? or wire snares that entangle the birds. For cruelty reasons, the United Kingdom and Germany do not allow bow hunting for any species. Western Australia and New South Wales have banned duck shooting. ?Our community has reached a stage of enlightenment where it can no longer accept the institutionalised killing of native birds for recreation.” wrote Dr. Carmen Lawrence, the former premier of Western Australia. In North America, hunter-caused crippling losses, or unretrieved kills, range from 20 to 40 percent of all ducks hit by gunfire. (Norton and Thomas 2006). [3] This major mortality factor, write the authors, has been largely ignored by waterfowl policy makers and managers. Archery hunting is ?commonly perceived? to result in higher wounding losses than guns, and increased travel distances before deer, a larger species, succumb to injury (Kilpatrick and Walter 1999).[4] According to the Division of Fish and Wildlife, the Fish and Game Council voted for the change, including the current waterfowl proposal, as a ?way to get new bow hunters into the sport and reverse the trend of people leaving it.?[5] With crossbows, the Division is targeting the aging, children, women, the disabled. The Archery Trade Association is partners with the Division of Fish and Wildlife. On page 24 of the association?s ?Issue Brief,? or direction for state action: ?(Item No. 23): Crossbows: incorporating crossbows may increase hunter recruitment and retention.? ?This is top-down, from the national trade lobby,? said Ms. Russell. ?Hunters are a shrinking minority and nearly halved in New Jersey. Over 99.4 percent of our state?s residents don?t hunt.? ?The National Sportsmen?s Caucus/Congressional Sportsmen?s Foundation works for ?sportsmen and the outdoor industry? to reverse the decline through de-regulation, hunter access, and new weapons. Under ?Delivering Returns on Investments,? the Caucus lists: the National Rifle Association, Titanium; National Shooting Sports Foundation (?the firearms industry trade association?), Safari Club International, Archery Trade Association, Browning, ATK Federal Premium, among others.[6] The Caucus is controlling New Jersey legislation and regulations, meeting with legislators in Trenton.? ?Speaking of delivering returns on investment, the combination of South Jersey Democrat and Senate President Steve Sweeney ? who received donations from the National Rifle Association and the National Shooting Sports Foundation – and Governor Christie, who panders to the dwindling animal shooting lobby, is deadly for New Jersey wildlife. When we reach the point of killing birds with crossbows, we hope that people of good conscience will say ?enough.?? -3- REFERENCES: [1] Flu-flu arrows exit the crossbow at full force, slowing abruptly at about 30 yards. [2] Only 22 percent of American hunters hunt for meat. (Responsive Management/National Shooting Sports Foundation. 2008. The Future of Hunting and the Shooting Sports: Research-Based Recruitment and Retention Strategies. Produced for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service under GrantAgreement CT-M-6-0. Harrisonburg, VA) [3] Michael R. Norton and Vernon G. Thomas, ?Economic Analyses of ?Crippling Losses? of North American Waterfowl and Their PolicyImplications for Management. Environmental Conservation?, 21: 347-353 doi:10.1017/S037689290003366X.(2006). [4] Texas Wildlife Department, ?Deer Management within Suburban Areas,? April 2006. [5] ?New Jersey will allow hunters to arm themselves with crossbows,? Press of Atlantic City, 6 August 2009. [6] http://www.sportsmenslink.org/About-Us/CSF-Partners
