Oct. 2000
The NJ Fish and Game Council (Council), along with the NJ Division of Fish, Game and Wildlife, (Fish and Game) have complete authority over our wild animals, and they use this power to allow the killing of more than 1,000,000 animals each year. For NJ's coyotes, this has meant an annual 17 day state wide hunting season for the past four years. Now, the Council is moving to quadruple the length of the hunting season, and extend it from Sept. 30, to Feb. 19.
"A child can see the hypocrisy in this act," states Stuart Chaifetz, founder of Honor and Non-Violence for Animals, "on one hand Fish and Game states that hunting of deer is necessary because there are no natural predators, yet with the other hand they then sell the licenses to kill those natural predators."
The Council is a quasi-legislative state board that has been given the power to decide what animals can be hunted, the lengths of the hunting seasons, and how many animals each hunter may kill. All but one member of the Council is a hunter.
Chaifetz has fought against the coyote hunt since it's inception in 1997.
"Because only hunters control our wildlife, only hunters' cares are addressed by the Council," states Chaifetz. "Hunters wanted coyotes killed because they saw them as competitors for deer; every deer a coyote kills is one less trophy for their wall. Just look at the current Chair of the Council, John Bradway. He is the owner of a hunting preserve and can profit anywhere from $300 - $800 for a hunter to kill deer on his property. Is it any wonder then that he would want coyotes killed?"
Coyotes' are extremely effective predators of deer. Robert Eisele, the top coyote hunter in NJ, made the following statement about why he kills coyotes:
"Coyotes have been tearing up the deer population down here," Eisele said. "You hardly see any fawns anymore. They don't eradicate them all, but they keep the population in check." (Bergen Record, Feb. 16, 1999)
The Council's decision to drastically extend the coyote hunt is just one part of their desire to make sure there there will be a plentiful supply of deer for hunters to kill. They say they want to reduce the deer populations to help farmers, but they will never will, for everything they stand for is dependent upon an ever expanding deer herd.
Yet, faced with this, farmers have gone along with Fish and Game, and have pushed through a number of bills in the legislature that have expanded deer hunting opportunities. One example is how baiting and killing deer became legal.
"I can make no simpler statement than this; NJ's farmers are being used by Fish and Game," states Chaifetz. " We must not blame deer for the plight of farmers, for this would be blaming the victim. All our focus must fall squarely upon the true persecutors; Fish and Game and the Council."
It is not enough to just fight against the extension of NJ's coyote hunt, for this would be like operating on only a part of a disease. HNVA is dedicated to fighting against all hunting and trapping of coyotes in our state, and to the dismantling of the power structure that has acted so arrogantly, and caused so much cruelty and suffering.