EDITOR:

This letter is in reference to the two bucks in Iron Mountain’s City Park deer pen that recently died as a result of locking horns and drowning.

I am sickened beyond belief of the slow yet brutal, horrific, cruel death that these animals had to go through — and for what? To live in a pen like a herd of cows for the public to view. If you have to go to City Park to see deer, there is something wrong. Deer are everywhere! So much so that the city has managed archery hunts.

What is the actual purpose of this deer pen? It is too crowded for the number of deer there, especially the bucks. The gene pool is very small, allowing inbreeding within the herd, and the stress during mating season is very high. To have them penned up as a domesticated animal for no good reason is absolutely ridiculous! They have enough things happen to them in nature alone, which is natural.

What purpose does this deer pen serve to the City of Iron Mountain? There is the expense of feeding them properly, veterinary care when needed, fence and land maintenance, and insurance costs. All this to see an animal you can look out your window all year round and see. That would have been a great area for the dog park, but at least we now have one. So, use that area for other outdoor activities and/or sports that the public would like to have there and enjoy.

It is hard for me to get the image out of my mind, the way those two magnificent creatures died. I imagine they were big, strong, healthy mature bucks with beautiful antlers. Specimens that should be in the wild, along with all the other deer that are in that pen. Instead, once again, animals suffer at the amusement and entertainment of so-called human beings.

Diane Luczak

Iron Mountain