DEER, DEER

Salon reports on the continuing CWD crisis and pulls no punches in stating that "game farms played a key role in spreading the illness" and finger "the growing use of supplemental feeding by deer farmers who want to induce the growth of big antlers to increase game animals' value as trophies." It's a good piece, but doesn't answer the question of what to do. If wholesale slaughter is not going to contain this disease, and nobody can eat the slaughtered animals, why bother? In fact, why bother having state game agencies whose income is based on underwriting "sporting" slaughter at all? The 2001 National Survey of Fishing, Hunting and Wildlife Association Recreation shows that in some states, non-hunting animal enthusiasts spend more than hunters! Well, at least hunting keeps the wild population numbers down. Oh, wait...