Humane Society Pushes for Deer Birth Control in Washington, D.C.

The Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) has recently offered their suggestion on how to cut an increased deer population in Washington, D.C. - birth control.

Deer populations in Rock Creek Park in D.C. have increased to 3-5 times more than what the National Park Service (NPS) deems sufficient, causing the NPS to take action. Controlled hunting has been successfully used as a means to limit the population – something hunters are willing to do and even to pay for the opportunity.  But HSUS sees this as a “wasteful killing program.”

HSUS is pushing the NPS to administer a form of birth control known as porcine zona pellucida (PZP) that causes antibodies to bind to a deer’s eggs to block fertilization. Administering PZP is expected to cost taxpayers $340,000 for just the Rock Creek Park alone according to humanewatch.org.  HSUS has offered to pay for half of the program, leaving taxpayers “holding the bag” for the rest of the cost.

Hunting has proven to be a successful means of population control, while also providing vital dollars to state wildlife agencies to maintain wildlife populations.  HSUS ignores this fact, and instead is asking taxpayers to use their hard earned money to pay for their unproven “birth control agenda.”

In addition, the NPS has set criteria for birth control vaccines to follow in order to be administered, and luckily, PZP does not meet the full criteria.

This is just one case of many where HSUS has pushed for a no-hunting agenda, including recent anti-bear hunting and bear trapping legislation introduced in Maine. HSUS fills the number one spot on U.S. Sportsmen’s Alliance’s Dirty Dozen list of anti-hunting organizations.