Silvie Pomicter’s January 1st Letter to the Editor (“Make your New Year’s resolution not to wear animal skins”) was misguided, at best.
Her assertion that animals are “skinned alive” is absurd on its face. It makes zero sense to process furs in this manner, from any legitimate perspective. Of course, from an animal rights propaganda viewpoint, it’s okay to spread this misinformation.
For the record, let us be clear that modern wildlife biologists use regulated hunting and trapping as a tool to scientifically manage certain wildlife populations. It is a well-established biological fact that once a population exceeds the carrying capacity of the habitat, the excess animals will die.
In the absence of regulated hunting and trapping, some will die from starvation, some will die from diseases such as distemper, rabies or mange. Some will die from vehicle collisions; some will die at the fangs and claws of other natural predators. But make no mistake, those animals will die (often a lingering, painful, miserable death).
Like it or not, that is how it works in the real world. It’s biology. It’s science. So, if excess animals will die anyway (and they will); is it better to utilize a renewable resource in a responsible way, or totally waste it?
Don Stiffler, Thompsontown, Pa.