30/10/2023
"I AM STUNNED..
▪️ that Oglebay Park is going to be opened up as a killing field for bow & arrow hunting — the cruelest, most inhumane type of hunting — on Nov. 6 for three days;
▪️ that hunters will get to kill, or more likely maim and doom to drawn-out horribly painful deaths, unknown but likely high numbers of Oglebay Deer; despite the semantics set forth in Oglebay’s Petition to stop the injunction against the hunt — claiming the deer aren’t “Oglebay Deer”, but deer who are property of the DNR – these deer include many, even a majority, of the deer that were once residents of the Deer Pen at the Good Zoo — so they are indeed, Oglebay Deer, at least in the eyes and hearts of so many of the citizens of Wheeling and the surrounding areas, who have visited and supported Oglebay for years. The hunters will not need to do any hunting — deer at Oglebay come out of the woods or trees at the first sound of humans or cars pulling up beside the fields. The hunters will be able to walk right up to them and fire off their arrows. And still there will be maimed deer fleeing to neighboring properties. There is something so inherently inhumane and cruel in all of this.
▪️ that Oglebay would be allowed to go forward with such a horrendous event, without first investigating and seriously considering the viable, humane options that are available and that have worked in many communities around the country to thin deer populations. There has been no concrete offering by anyone at Oglebay that they have looked into programs of “field neutering” or relocation that have both worked well in other communities.
▪️ that Judge Jason Cuomo delayed the first scheduled hearing and then opted out of holding any hearing. Just one issue that is nuanced and could be further clarified through a hearing, is that the public, We the People, who are the true owners of Oglebay Park (and Wheeling Park), are fiercely loyal to and care a great deal about the deer that roam Oglebay. We know, as does anyone who drives or walks through the Park — and this of course includes all who run or serve on committees or commissions at Oglebay — how tame the deer are. Oglebay has done nothing to try to stop people from feeding them, which could result in them becoming less tame.
▪️ that someone at Oglebay didn’t dare to “go rogue” and put a hold on this hunt, offer to schedule meetings with those opposed to the hunt to discuss options that could circumvent and make unnecessary such a barbaric remedy as a bow-and-arrow slaughter. One of the talking points has been that many of the deer are sick or malnourished, diseased; but there has been no documented, verifiable or reported evidence of sickly deer, diseased deer, or undernourished deer.
▪️ that Oglebay hasn’t reconsidered this hunt, in light of the fact that it will stain Oglebay’s reputation, and standing, likely for some time to come; that it may well discourage tourists from future trips to or stays at Oglebay; that it may cause some, even many, who have been contributors and donors to Oglebay, to stop being sources of donations, and stop participating in any events or activities at Oglebay.
💔️Any way one views it, this is a very sad time for Oglebay — or, the Oglebay we knew and loved. And it is sadder still, for hundreds of deer who were once, basically park pets in the deer pen at the Good Zoo, who were groomed and conditioned through folks being allowed to free-feed them, to trust humans, to believe humans are benign. They are going to learn soon, and in such a cruel fashion, just how malignant humans can be. But maybe one day, we can put an end to this malignancy that is so, UN-Oglebay."
~Cynthia Hubbard, Wheeling, WV resident
Photo credit: Betsy Joseph
