IRON MOUNTAIN, Mich. (Michigan News Source) – After 75 years as a hometown attraction, the deer of Iron Mountain’s City Park appear to be facing a final chapter – and it won’t be a happy one.
In a 5–2 vote, the city council approved eliminating the longtime deer pen and culling (killing) the remaining herd of about 17 animals. The deer will reportedly be processed into venison for food banks according to a February 12 report by the Detroit Free Press. It also stated, “In a matter of days, a man with a rifle will shoot them where they stand.”
USDA pressure, price tags and a deadline.
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City officials say the decision followed a U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) inspection that found deficiencies in the six-acre enclosure. The fix? Roughly $22,000 in upgrades, plus about $6,500 annually to feed the deer plus vet care. It’s something that the city officials, obviously, don’t want to do.
City Manager Jordan Stanchina has acknowledged that donations and volunteer labor could likely cover much of the upfront cost – but not the ongoing expenses. Because of decades of inbreeding, officials also said the deer couldn’t be released into the wild or easily sold or transferred.
Council members Ken Clawson, Pam Maule, David Farragh, Kyle Blomquist and Mark Wickman voted to end the pen. Mayor Dale Alessandrini and Council member Cathy Tomassoni dissented. “This is not a financial decision,” Pam Maule told the Mining Gazette. “It’s the state of the pen.”
“Save the deer” vs. “time to end it.”
Not everyone agrees with the killing of the deer. Caroline Sullivan of Friends of City Park called the pen “something from all of our pasts,” noting that generations of families visited the deer. A GoFundMe and an online petition are circulating. The Detroit Animal Welfare Group has also publicly offered to transfer the deer to a sanctuary.
Critics argue the herd has suffered from inbreeding, poor conditions and improper feeding by park visitors for years – and that ending the pen is the most humane option. And although there seems to be an outcry on social media to save the deer, only two residents reportedly spoke at the February 2 meeting where the vote was made, and the GoFundMe site has produced only small donations.
So unless something dramatic happens soon, a tradition dating back to the 1940s is going to end not with a whimper – but with a vote tally and some large bangs from a shotgun.
