Apologies for being late on this. An editorial in the Globe Wednesday criticized the state’s Environmental Police for killing bear in Newton on Sunday.
Good law enforcement — no matter the jurisdiction — requires the use of the least amount of force to get the job done. And all officers are required to maintain their weapons in good working order at all times. The Environmental Police failed the public — and the state’s wildlife — in these critical areas. The result was a sad and unnecessary death of a blameless creature.
How much equipment does an environmental police officer actually have? I mean, isn’t a tranquilizer gun a key — if not the only — part of the arsenal? It’s as if a regular police officer went to pull a gun on a suspect and it jammed.
I’d say the Globe got it just about right.
Yes, the Globe got it right–and our Mayor and Governor, as the chief executives of the state and city in which this preventable tragedy happened, got it very wrong by remaining silent. As we continue to raze wildlife habitats for shopping malls and McMansions, more and more animals are forced to enter residential neighborhoods in search of food and shelter. NOW is the time for government to develop better protocols; provide better education and training of those whose duties include managing wildlife; and ensure better supervision so they do it humanely and responsibly. I’m extremely disappointed in Mayor Warren’s and Gov. Patrick’s failure to lead—as well as their apparent lack of sympathy for a disoriented, frightened young bear seeking refuge in a tree, shot dead by unprepared, zealous police. No matter what office Warren and Patrick seek next, they don’t deserve and won’t have my vote.
But nothing from the Globe editorial staff on the shooting of a HUMAN by police in Dorchester.
Beth you do realize by expanding our [human] habitat we can’t just keep relocating animal populations…. often they will need to be hunted so their numbers are thinned.
Emily, EPW officers carry real and tranquilizer guns… my issue isn’t that they shot the thing, its that they shot the thing they clearly decided would be more beneficial to tranquilize and move over a broken piece of equipment. That’s laziness at best, trigger happiness at worst.
Mike
I want to know to what extent did the Environmental Police seek advice and help from other experts, such as the local university veterinary schools or the zoo? Surely, there must have been other tranquilizer guns at these centers. And why the rush to kill this animal? It is ludicrous to suggest that is was a threat whilst it was seeking refuge in a tree. And what is the data on black bears attacks in suburban/urban settings?
To follow up on my previous comment and question, here is some good info on the low risks associated with black bears, especially when they enter human habitats
http://www.bear.org/website/bear-pages/black-bear/bears-a-humans/119-how-dangerous-are-black-bears.html
Chuck, why do you think that is so?
Two sightings on lower Windsor Road on June 6, 2013; coyote traveling back and forth between Braeburn golf course and Lincoln field/playground.
On that morning a 3 yo Lab. Retriever was attacked in her own backyard and required treatment for bites.
The police can shoot bear near the Mass Pike but their response is “Oh, well…” when a beloved family pet is attacked in broad daylight.
Lyle Lovett says when it comes to bears, lunch is the key.
@Kim, I believe it’s a problem in journalism based on who runs the newsrooms. Newton ranks higher than Dorchester because the people running the newsrooms can more easily “relate” to the people here. Read my comments in in the post about my tweet on the subject.
Susan, it is every pet owner’s responsiblity to supervise their animals.
To leave a dog restrained in the yard, allowing access to it by predators–whether coyotes or cruel humans–is irresponsible.
To allow a cat to free-roam, where it either will be predator, killing smaller wildlife, or become prey is irresponsible.
For the environmental police, whose duties include managing wildlife, to have responded to this call with faulty equipment (they say), no back-up, no humane Plan B, and obviously no prior conversation experts such as the New England Wildlife Center is outrageoulsy irresponsible.
So too is Setti Warren’s and Deval Patrick’s failure to lead. This should have been a teachable, transformative event. Instead, it was just a senseless killing.
Stop blaming animals for doing what nature hardwired them to do. It’s time for humanes to start taking responsibility.
Beth, isn’t a cat killing smaller wildlife an event that is hardwired by nature? Yet you call people irresponsible for allowing it. We should lock cats in a house preventing acts of nature, however let coyotes and bears roam freely around the neighborhood? At least you should be consistent with your argument.