Westchester, NY August 16, 2004 Members of several NYS
activist groups have joined in commencing legal action against the NYS
Dept. Of Conservation (DEC) for using tax payer money to fund
hunter-training courses in satellite locations of Mt. Vernon, Yonkers and
Rye.
This statement, under the heading COALITION FOR THE
ETHICAL USE OF PUBLIC MONEY was prepared by Taffy Williams, Dir., NY Whale
and Dolphin Action League: "We find the use of public funds to train
hunters and bow hunters a misuse, discriminatory and unethical management
of public funds. ..also, the use of taxpayer funds for hunting-related
activities is a discriminatory use of public monies, since there are no
programs to benefit birdwatchers, kayakers, nature-enthusiasts, etc. The
link between hunting and other forms of violence has been established in
such sources as the Journal of Interpersonal Violence (B.W.Boat, June
1995) and the Purdue University Press (Child abuse, Domestic Violence and
Animal Abuse, 1999).
According to Anne Muller, President of the Committee to
Abolish Sport Hunting, "Towns should be frowning upon the DEC's practice
of building wildlife populations for hunting. The Bureau of Wildlife is
running a private hunting business on taxpayer money. The excise taxes on
firearms, bows and arrows are insufficient to pay for their sport of
killing animals. (New York State is required to match 25% of the federal
excise tax that is contributed to the State.) All of the Bureau of
Wildlife's overhead costs are paid out of the general fund. With our money
the Bureau of Wildlife increases "game" species which then create
human-animal conflicts.
Councilperson Dee Barbato, (R-Yonkers) agrees: "While
safety should always be paramount, in this time of heightened security for
our waterways and water supplies, I would think that the DEC could find
better ways to safeguard the citizens than using taxpayer dollars for
these sessions."
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