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Another victim of a sadistic hobby makes a recovery, but she’s the exception not the rule.
- by Alicia Graef | September 3, 2015
A mother deer who suffered for more than nine months with a bowhunter’s arrow lodged in her face has finally gotten help, thanks to the efforts of thousands upon thousands of caring people from around the world who signed a Care2 petition launched on her behalf.
The doe, who has been named Grace, was first spotted late last year in Marlboro, New Jersey, bearing an arrow that was presumably intended to end her life. Like many others who aren’t killed by bowhunters, she was callously left to suffer with a tragic injury.
Not only has she miraculously managed to survive, eating and navigating her environment without getting caught on anything, but she also gave birth to a fawn earlier this spring.
Even though wildlife officials had known about her since at least December 2014 the state’s Division of Fish and Wildlife said in a statement that they tried unsuccessfully to help her over the winter and put efforts on hold in May after she became pregnant over concerns intervention could harm her fawn.
Thankfully, her advocates kept the pressure on to help her. After Showing Animals Respect and Kindness (SHARK) shared a video of Grace earlier this spring, her story took off.
A Care2 petition started on her behalf urging officials to uphold their promise to help her has gathered more than 106,000 signatures from supporters around the world and has been shared by major news outlets including USA Today, CBS and NBC.
This week their efforts to give Grace a voice paid off when wildlife officials finally located her, tranquilized her and removed the shaft of the arrow. According to a statement, a veterinarian present recommended the arrowhead be left because her wound had healed and removing it could cause further injury.
They said Grace, who is believed to be about three to four years old, was released back into the wild with her fawn and is expected to be fine.
This photo was taken as she recovered from being sedated. Credit: New Jersey Division of Fish and Wildlife.
This photo was taken as she recovered from being sedated. Credit: New Jersey Division of Fish and Wildlife.
“We thank all of the New Jersey residents and people from all over the world who have expressed concern about the deer, as well as local residents who have been very helpful in providing information on her movements throughout the community and even set up bait stations on their properties,” said David Chanda, Director of Fish and Wildlife.
Poh Yeh Holmes, who created the petition to help Grace after seeing SHARK’s video on a friend’s Facebook page, told Care2 she is humbled by the number of signatures that came in and is “over the moon” that help finally came for her.
“If something bad happens to us, we can take ourselves to the doctor but sadly, Grace is not able to. She is not able to ask for help either. I can only imagine how difficult it must have been for her to graze on grass or to pick up an acorn, to reach higher up for greenery that she wanted to eat. I thought a petition to help her plight, may help,” she said.
Holmes said Grace’s advocates will now be using the petition to push lawmakers in the area to turn her range in Marlboro into a no-hunting zone to make sure she and the rest of her herd can continue to live in peace.
If you know of an animal in need in your community or elsewhere who could use some advocacy on their behalf like Grace, you can help them by starting a petition.
Editor’s Note
“PLEASE people. Don’t think for one second this was done by any semblance of a legitimate, ethical hunter. This was done by the same lowlife that poaches, litters the woods, disrespects the resource. No where near a true hunter…”
You get the drift.
Their defense argument is usually that such incidents happen because (a) the bowhunter was a moron; (b) was inexperienced; (c) was a “poacher” with no principles, and so on. In other words the old tactic of distancing themselves—the real, “ethical hunters” —from the author of this act (all too common in hunting season).
In any case, alerted to this incident by a Care2 mailing, our assoc ed Branford Perry was quick to follow the trail to the NJ Division of Fish and Wildlife Facebook page
Well, as our assoc ed put it, there are no ethical hunters. Here’s his entry on the FB page:
[box] Branford PerrySorry mates. “Ethical (sport) hunter” is an oxymoron, a logical contradiction, like saying an “ethical child molester.” Shooting animals for fun is depraved. I was raised in a part of SW England where hunting (for fun) was common among the rich folks, and also practiced a bit by poor folk when need arose. My family was among those but now I’m 56 so that’s an old time ago.
Fact is the (sport) hunting fraternity is mostly made up of people who simply love guns, are stubborn at not rethinking their attitudes, find plenty reinforcement in fellow hunters and the gun industry propaganda, and love to shoot them—at live targets, which perforce is animals minding their own business.
I know because I love those guns too, and shoot them often. But a long time ago I saw the moral wrong in shooting a helpless creatures under any excuse. Now the firing range or other similar places is the only choice for me. Hunting for food in America in the 21st century is a huge lie. It is deception and self-deception. It is excuses, guys, and you all know it. Quite frankly, as long as our farmers and Big Ag especially, put food on the table easily, by killing billions of animals (that’s another story), and cheaply for the most part, finding food with just a 2-mi trip to the market, going hunting for meat is not a necessity but a CHOICE.
Now I only shoot at non-live targets. It is satisfying and I can go home and look at myself in the mirror. As for shooting at real challenging targets, like the kind of animal who can fight back, and really hurt you, I think that only wars put you in that situation. Those of you who served in the military will know what I mean. Oh, by the way, don’t call an animal “a resource”. Don’t be cowards and hide behind fancy euphemisms, words that make killing nice and neat. Killing is never neat—and certainly not for the victim. Only sociopaths can’t get the meaning of that, and sociopaths are people devoid of any empathy—the first quality in a civilized, Christian person (which I’d like to think I am). “Resource” and “harvesting” are abstract terms created a long time ago by the well-paid whores in the public relations industry and Harvard educated trophy hunters. Such words should only relate to inanimate nature, like fruit harvest, plants, things that grow on trees. You know that. So talk the straight talk and defend it if you must but do it honestly, like real men.[/box]
One last thing: We are happy this ended well and the Wildlife Management people (a stupid dominionist term) did the right thing by this animal, although I am not so sure they would have been so kind and solicitous if Big Media and social media had not put the spotlight on their actions to begin with. Those of you inclined to help Branford with the hunting crowd, and willing to punch on a knife, since this mob will quickly tax your patience, can do so at this location:
NJ Division of Fish & Wildlife
Branford can be reached directly at branford.perry@greanvillepost.com
—PG
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1 comment
“I don’t have a lot of hope for most followers of dominion. It seems they just don’t get the real meaning of compassion. No matter how much one rationalizes their crazy logic, or shows them the hole in their argument, they just don’t see it!..” Sharon Azar
Looking Beyond Hunting… to end huntingThe Care2 article proclaims success because one deer was rescued from the ravages of hunting. This is success, not for an end to hunting, but for the right to hunt responsibly in a nation guided by dominion.. Branford Perry also misses the mark… While it is admirable that he has seen the light, the relevancy of the small number of hunters who see the error of their ways overlooks the root cause for the vast majority who hunt for sport. Sport hunting is enabled by the archaic primitivism of the judeo.christian tradition, with its grandiose proclamation that puts man above the animals: dominion. With this statement of human supremacy comes the right to use animals for human need, aggrandizement, amusement and to kill them for their body parts and flesh.
The chilling words of genesis:
Genesis 9:1-3 “The fear and dread of you shall rest on every animal of the earth, and on every bird of the air, on everything that creeps on the ground, and on all the fish in the sea; into your hand they are delivered. Every moving thing that lives shall be food for you; and just as I gave you the green plants, I give you everything.'”
form the basis for the idea of asserting one’s importance in the dominion hierarchy by destroying defenseless animals with every possible gizmo available. The most recent fad in the Christian community is Bow Hunting, The heavily indoctrinated members of THE CHRISTIAN BOW HUNTERS OF AMERICA celebrate the taking of harmless animal lives as a tribute to God… yet another excuse justified by man’s dominion over the animals:
“Welcome to the Christian Bowhunters of America Exalting Christ as Creator, Savior & Lord!
CBA is a ministry to the bow hunting and archery world. Seeking to exalt and serve Jesus Christ by leading lost people to Him, and encouraging Christian growth!
Our Purpose:
– To provide a united voice of Christian Bowhunters in America – To promote the biblical truth that God is the Creator and Savior of the world. – To bring an awareness of man’s personal accountability to God. – To challenge bow hunters to allow the Lordship of Christ to govern their individual lives. – To provide helps and tools for sharing one’s faith in Christ with others. – To share the common joy and experience of bow hunting with other Christian Bowhunters. – To foster faith, fun and fellowship among Bowhunters of America.”http://www.christianbowhunters.org/Missionstatement
It could not be more clear… human dominion has provided this merry band of killers with yet another excuse to kill peaceful animals, such as deer, who harm no one. The excuse – spreading the word.
The issue is not bow hunting, but the right to take innocent animal lives. While the plight of this one deer, shot in the face with an arrow, captured the imagination of the public, it also opened the door to hunting defenders to do the same, with the same old mantra of responsible hunters and the inherent goodness of ‘your grandfathers hunting rifle” Until we challenge the bloodied root of violence to animals, a society that lives by biblical dominion will not understand the evil of taking the life of an animal, no matter how responsibly it is done.
A wiser, more benevolent ideal must replace dominion if we are ever to move beyond the dark violence of dominion. That ideal is ahimsa, which celebrates the value of all lives: both human and animal. The literal meaning of AHIMSA of the Jain religion of India is no-harm. We must acknowledge that Ahimsa or reverence for life, will not be found in religions that live by dominion before we can move forward to a more compassionate world for animals.
“For there is nothing inaccessible for death.
All beings are fond of life, hate pain, like pleasure,
shun destruction, like life, long to live. To all life
is dear.? Jain Acharanga Sutra.
“These words of the venerable Mahavir found in the
Acharanga Sutra are some of the profoundest ever found
in a religious scripture. They are a result of a
tremendous but simple spiritual discovery: all life is
holy, sacred or God-given. Life, therefore, has
intrinsic values – and all that lives has an interest
in living.” Reverend Andrew Linsey