Buck Shot

… Solon employed professional sharpshooters for four years to thin its herds. It was costly at $345 to $570 per deer…

…An initiative headed for the town's ballot this November, organized by a vocal national activist group*, calls for a total repeal of Solon's culling ordinance…

…The Metroparks spent nearly half a million dollars over five years experimenting with a contraceptive vaccine but concluded it was not effective enough and it was difficult to deliver to free-ranging herds in large numbers.

Nonsense, says Lane Ferrante, Ohio state director of the League of Humane Voters. Her organization is largely responsible for this November's "Solon Deer Preservation Act" — the ballot initiative against lethal deer culling in Solon — and an initiative that repealed Broadview Heights' culling ordinance last year. She thinks Ohio should pursue deer birth-control methods and calls Cleveland Metroparks' concern about over-browsed vegetation threatening other wildlife habitats "a bunch of propaganda."

Ferrante doesn't believe there's an overpopulation problem. At the same time, she insists that deer culling results in a "rebound effect" that actually increases herd sizes…

…"Urban hunting is about backroom deals between hunters and the Department of Wildlife aided by legislators," says Ferrante…

…Ferrante's group was Broadview Heights Mayor Samuel Alai's worst nightmare…

…"They ran a great campaign; I'll hand it to them," Alai says…more

* Note: The League of Humane Voters of Ohio is a chapter of a national registered nonprofit 527 political action committee, not an “activist group.”  Membership is open to animal lovers and currently free for Ohio residents.  Click here to join!

Contract: Solon Could Pay USDA $128,000 to Cull 400 to 500 Deer

Solon deer, courtesy Chris Mazzolini/Solon Patch

Solon City Council approved a contract with the U.S. Department of Agriculture Wednesday to have the federal agency run the city's deer culling program…

… That will include killing about 400 to 500 white-tailed deer, said Solon Public Works Commissioner Jim Stanek.

According to the contract, USDA sharpshooters will remove white-tailed deer from Solon using rifles with silencers in pre-approved shooting locations…more

Columbus Dispatch editorial: Grand bargain

Well, how about that: Political compromise isn’t dead, after all.

That’s one more thing to celebrate about the groundbreaking new rules that will apply to livestock care in Ohio starting Sept. 29.

Ohio has standards of which it can be proud and which will please consumers, who are increasingly intolerant of tightly confining crates and pens for veal calves and hogs, surgically removing dairy cows’ tails and other practices many consider inhumane…more

Upcoming Vote on Deer Hunting Looms Over Solon's Deer Plans

Ward 2 Councilman Bob Pelunis said the city spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on sharpshooting earlier this decade, only to stop the program and have the deer problem become as bad if not worse than it was before.

"What do we really

have to show for that money?" he said.

"We keep coming back to the same position”

…more

Solon City Council Quick Takes: Deer Legislation, Solar Center Moratorium and More

Solon City Council

…looming over discussions of culling Solon's growing deer herd is the ballot initiative that would outlaw hunting in Solon…more

Election 2011: Solon to Vote on Deer Preservation Act

… deer hunting, either with sharpshooters or with bow hunting, will pose a danger to children and 

residents…more

Mazzola’s animals relocated (with video)

COLUMBIA TOWNSHIP — The area around 9978 North Marks Road will never be the same because the wild animals that belonged to the late Sam Mazzola, who died on July 10, are no longer there.

Mazzola’s collection of exotic animals such as lions, bears, and tigers are well-known throughout the area because he often invited neighbors to see them.

Since his death, three bears were relocated to the Wild Animal Sanctuary in Keenesburg, Colo.

Pat Craig, the executive director of the animal sanctuary, said that a woman who said that she was Mazzola’s girlfriend called his sanctuary and told them that they were looking for a place for his bears. The sanctuary is one of only two in the country to take in bears...see video