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The Tragedy of Unnecessary Violence

The violence inflicted upon deer never fails to shock me. I am left wondering not only why we resort to such cruel measures, but how these actions continue to garner widespread support. I was a resident of Montgomery County, Maryland, for decades, and during that time I found great compassion for the plight of the deer.

As housing developments, traffic, highways, and human overpopulation exploded, the deer were increasingly blamed for everything. My view always focused on what we were doing to cause deer to suffer.

The use of bow hunting in densely populated suburban areas raises serious ethical and safety questions. When non-lethal methods are available, why do we choose a method that carries a high risk of wounding and prolonged suffering, simply to avoid sharing our landscape and yards?

The inhumane challenges facing deer are in clear display upon reading two tragic stories on a Montgomery County neighborhood website. Something as simple as leaving sports netting, or other nets up, can have fatal consequences for wildlife.

In one instance, a deer became tangled in a net used for sports. Instead of finding a humane solution to freeing the deer, police shot the deer several times. There was no mention of the deer having serious injuries, meaning the option of sedation and untangling was likely viable. The second serious concern is that several bullets result in a painful, slow death. The humane standard for severely injured wildlife requires rapid, painless chemical euthanasia administered by a trained professional, not the dangerous and often prolonged use of multiple police rounds. This failure of protocol speaks volumes about our current priorities.

The Failure to Rescue

I then read about another shocking deer story that occurred in that same neighborhood.  A fawn was left orphaned after his mother had been killed. From the details provided in the online story, it appears that no one was allowed to help the fawn. He was left to die of dehydration and starvation—a tragedy that is totally unacceptable.

This inaction is likely due to state or county laws that prohibit the rescue of seemingly abandoned fawns, even when the mother’s death is confirmed. These laws must be reviewed immediately to prioritize compassion over bureaucratic rigidity. There is no reason to leave an animal to die a slow death if there are licensed wildlife rehabilitators who are willing to help.  The point of this blog post is that it is totally unacceptable to leave deer suffering, and putting them out of their misery is often necessary. But we need to do this in a humane way – which is not accomplished by shooting bullets and hoping that after several shots  the animal might die. That is why I am proposing  humane euthanasia, and when it is feasible, rehabilitation by a licensed rehabber.

But due to the bureaucracy involved in this – it would not be possible for a deer or fawn in distress to wait for an answer if they were injured. A licensed rehabber it appears needs special permission from Maryland DNR Wildlife & Heritage Service to engage in deer rehabilitation. This is another reason we need trained wildlife technicians (through Department of Natural Resources) to be able to respond to deer that are seriously injured or hit by cars.

The Wider Problem: Outdated Policies and Attitudes

These local tragedies are further proof that our wildlife laws and agencies are all too often governed by outdated and totally inhumane concepts. Instead of humanity being the guiding principle, violence is often resorted to.

I witnessed this failure firsthand years ago driving down Route 28 in Darnestown, MD. I pulled over to see a police officer standing over a fawn, pistol drawn, confirming the young deer had a broken back after being hit by a car. I asked if humane euthanasia was possible. The officer replied they had to shoot him.

To this day, I am despaired by the lack of a system for compassionate, immediate end-of-life care for suffering animals. I have seen deer suffer through many rounds of ammunition after horrific accidents, which only compounds the initial injury. (Stories of this horrific suffering inspired me to write about this issue extensively in my upcoming book, More Stories Along the Golden Path of Nature.)

There has to be a way to teach people how to drive with far more concern and awareness for animals. This in itself would go a long way towards reducing deaths and injuries of wild and domestic animals on our roads.

What are the Humane Alternatives?

As a society, we need to come up with a much more humane approach to dealing with deer and other wildlife issues. It is time to implement a comprehensive, community-focused, and non-lethal approach.

This includes exploring cutting-edge, proven methods like immunocontraception (fertility control) for deer populations, investing in wildlife corridors and fencing along major highways, as well as prioritizing driver education to reduce road collisions. Deer fencing is more reasonable approach to keep deer from your vegetable garden.

 The Crown Farm in Gaithersburg, Maryland was once an oasis abundant with song birds, acres of land and historic structures. I had the pleasure of living in an apartment that over looked this picturesque ecosystem. Years after I moved, the farm died underneath a massive sprawl of pavement and development. Surrounded by highways and development, where did all the deer, birds, coyote and other wildlife have to go? . We need to include these birds and animals in our plans and create a more integrated system.

Humane Tip: Takedown the Netting!

Leaving a net unmonitored is a disaster waiting to happen, as I witnessed when I moved to Germantown, Maryland, next to a beautiful forest. When our neighbor placed netting around his young trees, I grew concerned it might turn into a death trap for wildlife.

On an afternoon walk, I saw a house wren desperately struggling for its life in the netting. The harder the bird pulled, the more he was strangling himself. I ran inside, grabbed a pair of manicure scissors, and very cautiously trimmed the netting away. After the last strand was cut, the grateful wren flew free. This close call proves that nets are deadly traps. I spoke to my neighbor about the near death of the bird in his netting, but he refused to remove the net. Needless to say I was intensely upset and disappointed.

If you use nets for sports activities, take them down immediately when not in use, or cover them up with a tarp to keep wildlife away. Avoid using nets around trees or the garden entirely.

Humane alternatives for protecting plants and trees include:

• Physical Barriers: Using less harmful materials like polypropylene fabric, garden cloth, or natural burlap.
• Visual Deterrents: Employing reflective tape or scarecrows.
• Predator Decoys: Using realistic decoys like owls or hawks.

I strongly suggest checking any type of physical barrier every day to further ensure no birds or wild animals are caught and harmed.

A Plea for More Humanity:

The choice between bullets and compassion is not a complex one. The violence we inflict upon deer—from slow, traumatic deaths by multiple gunshots to allowing fawns to starve because of archaic laws—is a direct reflection of our own failure to prioritize humane values.

The loss of the Crown Farm, the suffering of a fawn on Route 28, and the silence from our regulatory agencies all stem from one core belief: that wildlife exists solely for our convenience, and when they inconvenience us, they must be eliminated.

We are capable of greater empathy. We have the technology, from immunocontraception to wildlife corridors, to mitigate conflict without bloodshed. What we need now is the  collective moral will to demand that our wildlife management policies embrace humane policies as their guiding principle.

This is not just a plea for the deer; it is a plea for our own humanity. Let us choose compassion, demand accountability, and create a shared world where every life, wild or otherwise, is valued.

Copyright – Cynthia Fain – November 2026