Kimberley City Council is eagerly waiting for a reply to their letter to the provincial government around the issue of the urban deer herd.

The issue arose again when Coun. Brent Bush, who has been hearing from people for even mentioning the word cull two weeks ago.

“A cull is a hard thing to do,” Bush said. “But I did bring it up. Is there some kind of middle ground between a cull and contraception that we could look at? I’d like to see the Conservation Officers at Council to talk to us about possibly relocating deer. A cull is ethically and morally wrong to a lot of people.”

Mayor Jim Ogilvie said that the CO’s had spoken to Council several times in the past and had not been able to offer much in terms of a solution..

Biologists and CO’s are of the opinion, Ogilvie said, that deer won’t handle relocation well and many would die.

“Their current policy is that they will deal with an injured animal only.:

But Ogilvie is adamant that the deer problem in Kimberley is one the province needs to take on.

“They’re provincial deer. We need to let the province respond to our letter. They’re not our deer. I was led to believe that they were going to work on a solution but I haven’t heard it yet.

“We’re not the only community that has this problem. There are hundreds across Canada and Untied States. So far culling is only done when they get something like the mad cow disease. Then it becomes a health and safety issue.”

Council will wait to hear what the government has to say in response to their latest request for help with the urban deer herd.