No to a reward

Posted by Norma on October 21, 2010, 5:34 pm, in reply to "How about a reward?"
64.180.207.73

Sorry to monopolize this board, but this is for me the most important topic. But until I get down there to actually do something, I will stop posting. I don't think a reward is a good idea. There are no laws to protect animals in Mexico that I know of, so nothing would be accomplished except knowing who it is and then it would only make for more bad feelings. I think there is another way. I think education for the community is the first step. It is the only way I know of to shift the paradigm. My experience with community organizing has been very productive. As a result of illegal hunters from off-island who had no idea where our houses are and were shooting in people's driveways or at night, we organized for change. We provided "No Trespassing" signs for posting at the property borders. We had to do this as otherwise hunters have legal rein to go through your yard if it isn't fenced. It sounds so rude, but in our area it is the only enforceable signage. We formed a committee of our local Residence Association to handle any wild life issues on our island. Injured animals, dogs chasing deer, etc. For instance there is now an alert for 2 bears and a cougar. We have signs with big drawings of cougars and bears to alert the community. The committee puts displays the signs at the store and ferry. We also had a sign-up for "No Hunting" zones. As it turned out the guys who didn't want to sign up were the illegal hunters. A lot can be accomplished in the court of public opinion. Social change takes a lot of time and patience. How about a page on the board with photos of the poisoned animals in memoriam.

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