A Year Ago Today, Environmental Police Killed a
 Terrified Young Bear, Cowering in a Newton, Mass., Tree:
MAKE 1 CALL FOR CHANGE
ON THIS DAY OF REMEMBRANCE!

"The state Environmental Police...have an obligation to maintain public safety. But it is far from obvious that their decision to shoot and kill a small, black bear in Newton served such a purpose… The Environmental Police failed the public — and the state’s wildlife..."  Boston Globe, June 5, 2013

“There will be no change in procedures,” said Reginald Zimmerman, an Environmental Police spokesman, in the Boston Herald. 

On Sunday morning, June 2, 2013, a small, disoriented black bear sought refuge in a tree above the Mass. Pike in a residential neighborhood of "progressive" Newton.

State Environmental Police were alerted at about 6:30 a.m. and joined local law enforcement on the scene. 

Just an hour after the first call came in, the young bear was dead, shot out of the tree to which he clung in terror. He had shown no sign of aggression or descent.

His body was given to a "sportsmen's club"  to "salvage."

WHAT REALLY HAPPENED?

According to early news reports, the Environmental Police first said the bear wasn’t in range for a tranquilizer gun. Yet an officer was able to climb a fire truck ladder to shoot bullets at him. Does that make sense to you? 

Story #2 was that the tranquilizer "didn’t take." Story #3, the current one, is the tranquilizer gun “malfunctioned" and was inoperable.  


If so, why isn't non-lethal back-up equipment part of the Environmental Police's protocol?

WHAT WAS THE RESPONSE?

Newton Mayor Setti Warren and Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick--whose administrations represent themselves as "progressive"--curiously refused to issue a public comment. 


Despite pleas from Massachusetts residents, there wasn't  even a word of sympathy for the dead animal, let alone a commitment to study and establish policy for more humane treatment of wildlife in our communities. 

Three weeks after the Newton killing, a bear entered a Washington, DC, neighborhood. Here's how that municipality responded: 
www.today.com/video/today/52327266/#52327266

WHAT YOU CAN DO NOW, NO MATTER WHERE YOU LIVE...
IN MEMORY OF AN INNOCENT YOUNG ANIMAL

As wildlife habitats increasingly are razed to make room for commercial and residential development, more and more animals are forced into neighborhoods in search of food and shelter.

Let Governor Deval Patrick know: NOW is the time to establish policy and protocols that reflect this new reality.

NOW is the time for humane management of wildlife, including those who enter our communities.

CALL Governor Patrick:
(617) 725-4005
(888) 870-7770 (toll-free in state)
Get voicemail? Leave a short, polite message requesting establishment of policy, protocols and training for humane management of wildlife by the Environmental Police and other first responders.

EMAIL: http://www.mass.gov/governor/constituentservices/contact/

Be calm, brief and polite. Tell his staff, in your own words:

►As the chief executive of Massachusetts, Governor Patrick is ultimately responsible for the agencies and personnel whose duties include managing wildlife.

►He must take decisive action NOW to ensure Massachusetts establishes policy, protocols and training for humane management of wildlife entering our communities in increasing numbers, forced there by residential and commercial development.

Posing with a cub during the annual bear survey this year--a photo of the governor that was splashed all over the media--is PR, not humane action for animals. It's a self-serving act.

Caring people everywhere expect better.