The City deliberately manipulated the use of the 2022 public opinion survey results because the City failed to mention that over 70% of residents enjoy seeing deer and, in its 2016 public survey, a majority of residents were against using archery hunting and firearm sharpshooting to resolve their concerns about deer.

The City has only sought the DNR’s biased narrow minded advice, which is always just kill the deer to reduce conflicts with humans.

The City has done nothing for the past 10 years to find effective nonlethal solutions which are not divisive among residents.

The DNR wanted the removal of the 450-foot safety zone around homes to eliminate a barrier to allow the use of firearm sharpshooting and especially archery hunting near suburban and urban homes.

The City is putting our families at risk because it is planning to kill tame deer in our subdivisions where we live and where our children play in their own backyards.

The DNR has no sound scientific basis, as is required by law, to conclude that killing tame deer will reduce deer-vehicle accidents, the risk of Lyme disease (which is not caused by deer) or landscaping and garden damage.

The annual killing of deer will be endless because the deer population will continue to rebound since the surviving deer will yearly have more fawns and other deer will immigrate from outside the killing zone.

The City and the DNR recognize that killing tame deer is a contentious and highly divisive community issue among residents.

Other cities use community-based, nonlethal and humane strategies, such as the progressive city of Rochester Hills which has successfully implemented nonlethal measures for the past 14 years.