Three anti-wildlife bills are pending in the New Jersey Assembly. Bill A3120 would allow hunting in summer months. This would include deer. Even if you aren’t the biggest fan of deer and wildlife in general, would you want to see helpless fawns orphaned and roaming your yard until they die of starvation because their mother was killed by hunters? All animals — not just humans — need their parents to teach them how to survive.
Bill A3121 would give generic permits to kill animals that are “known to cause” crop damage. So, even if an animal happens to be passing by and is not actively eating crops, it can still be killed under this bill.
Bill A3118 would allow “management of wildlife” — in other words, killing them — on open space and farm preservation lands purchased by taxpayers. Please contact your Assembly members and ask them to oppose A3120, A3121 and A3118. To contact legislators, visit www.njleg.state.nj.us/districts/municipalities. asp. Find your municipality and corresponding district. Select the district link, which will show the Assembly members for your district. You can select one of them and then choose the “Contact Your Legislator( s)” link, which will allow you to email multiple members at once.
There is already too much hunting in the state. These bills must be stopped.
Dawn Zelinski
Middletown