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"Solon Deer Preservation Act" — the ballot initiative against lethal deer culling in Solon — and an initiative that repealed Broadview Heights' culling ordinance last year.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!

Suburbia’s Deer Problem

photo courtesy WCPN, 
NPR Cleveland, The Sound of Ideas

…The debate over how to cull the herd rages on, with the city of Solon now a focal point as the city again turns to hunting while residents go to the ballot to outlaw it…more

Solon Deer Problem Focus of 'The Sound of Ideas' Radio Program Thursday

3/10/11 Solon City Council meeting attendees, courtesy Solon Patch

…The Solon deer debate will be the focus of an hour long discussion at 9 a.m. Thursday on "The Sound of Ideas"* program on WCPN 90.3 FM…more

* Click on “The Sound of Ideas” link above to hear the audiotape of this program, including a brief interview with Lane Ferrante, The League of Humane Voters of Ohio State Director

Welcome to the Ohio League of Humane Voters Blog!

"Bless The Beasts And The Children; For In This World They Have No Voice." That's the first line from a Carpenter's song made popular in the seventies. The good news is this. Ohio is now giving a "voice" to the animals of the world and it's being done through this Web Cite and the actions of the newest chapter of the League of Humane Voters. Welcome to our blog!!

We have a lot of work to do. Ohio's reputation in the animal-friendly community is not so good. We have a Legislature and a Governor who are playing catch-up with other states that have long ago become animal-friendly. Whether it's the challenge of outlawing puppy mills, or restricting the tethering of dogs in a backyard, or arguing that Ohio should ban the ownership and possession of exotic animals, LOHV Ohio is ready to go to work.

LOVH Ohio can only do so much. It is our mission to alert you---the reader---to things that are happening in the Buckeye State. It takes more. We all must join hands and take action. We have to be ready as voters to use the most powerful tool that we possess to influence the legislative direction of Ohio's government: our voices and our votes.

Next year is an important election year in Ohio. The Governor and other state office-holders are up for election. One third of the State Senate will also be up. As will all members of the House of Representatives. In other words, "we've got them where we want them." Next year, at least, they will need us and our votes as much as we will need them. So, now is the time to get involved in LOHV Ohio. Report animal abuse and neglect. Become a part of LOVH Ohio. And, let your local politicians know that you are a voter and his or her record on animal issues will make a difference in how you cast that vote on election day.

Thanks to all who came together and helped plan and implement the Ohio chapter of LOHV Ohio. A special "shout-out" to Lane Ferrante and her tenacity in forming and organizing this group. Join us and make a difference for those innocent creatures in the world who, at least until now, have had "no voice."

Paul R. Leonard

LOHV Ohio

(Paul Leonard is a former elected official in Ohio government; he teaches political science at the University of Dayton and teaches Animal Law at Wright State University. He is an animal rights attorney and is the immediate past Chair of the Animal Legal Defense Fund Board of Directors. The ALDF is based in northern California.)