Moose Destruction Disappointing: One Man's Opinion

By Ben Meisner

 
I was out of the city when it was decided  a cow moose that had trampled a dog and injured a woman  had to be destroyed.

It may now be a bit late to comment, but never the less, I found some fault with the manner in which the spin on the killing took place.

The game wardens had to put the animal down, (kill it). The female moose was loaded with ticks they say.  If that is a reason to kill a moose then we will have few moose left in this region. Somehow suggesting that the young calves did not have any ticks, is also more than a bit of a stretch. Did they check them or is it more appropriate just to mention the old cow, because we had to get rid of her?

Now as for the reason to get rid of the moose. we have in this city, lots of moose that live in close proximity to our homes. The moose have been there since this city was established. They should have the same rights as the rest of us to be able to move freely about. The cow moose in question may have become agitated when time after time her calves have been chased by dogs that are not on leashes and their owners think its alright for the dogs to chase these animals around.

This cow was a good mother doing what good moose mothers do, defending her young.

Over the years that I have lived in Prince George, I have seen all sorts of situations where deer have been run to their deaths by dogs that have been let out at night to get some exercise.  The owners of the dogs have no regard to where the canines are going, or what they are doing.

Because of where she choose to raise her young , this particular moose was faced with this problem every year.  From the time her young were born , bears, dogs and indeed humans, invaded her space. Now should that moose have some rights?  Of course she should.

One of the things that we love to show people from out of town is the wildlife that exists around us. Moose don’t eat meat; they don’t go out of their way to attack people unless they have been continuously provoked.

When it is a grizzly bear attack, we reason that the bear was just protecting its territory but in the question of the moose it must be killed because it posed a danger.  It jus doesn’t add up.

I’m Meisner and that’s one man’s opinion   

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