The Tri-City News this week reported that conservation officers killed the sow and cubs in Port Moody following their entry into an open garage, filled with tantalizing garbage.
"Last fall in September and October, there were numerous reports of these bears getting into garbage, breaking into residential structures to access garbage and they were in around the same subdivision,” Inspector Murray Smith told the Tri-City News.
Sadly, this is only the first of what will be a certain onslaught of killings of hungry non-human animals this season. And in almost every case, we can confidently predict that the combination of human laziness surrounding food and waste, and the lack of deterrents and enforcement of the conservation officer program, will be the source of the deaths.
We know what we need to do to keep bears safe: keep garbage secured appropriately, clean up after ourselves, and use sensible deterrents. Now we need communities and potentially the province to put in place policy that allows financial consequences to those who refuse to follow common sense bear smart practices.
Please speak to your local councillor or representative and ask them to put in place feeding by-laws to protect the bears. Because in the end, they want the same things we do: a healthy, happy family.
monthly donor(for as little as $5/month – the cost of a single latte) pleaseclick hereand help us save lives today.
