Divided Sleepy Hollow votes to kill 20 deer
Sleepy Hollow has agreed to let the Illinois Department of Natural Resources kill up to 20 white-tailed deer in the village and sample them for chronic wasting disease.
In doing so, the village on Monday also amended an ordinance that originally banned hunting in Sleepy Hollow to allow these shootings. Sharpshooting could begin as early as next week and would end March 21, Regional Wildlife Biologist Dan Ludwig said.
As part of the program, scientists test deer brains and lymph nodes for chronic wasting disease, a fatal neurological ailment that affects primary functions in the animal. It is contagious among deer, but there are no known human cases.
One deer tested positive for the disease nearby at Salamander Springs in Carpentersville, and the IDNR wants to see whether the disease has infected Sleepy Hollow’s deer. It is estimated that 110 deer call the village home.
In Sleepy Hollow, a single sharpshooter will operate in the rural territory north of Jelke’s Bird Sanctuary, south of the village hall and east of Sleepy Hollow Road.
Last week, the village’s environmental committee gave preliminary approval to let IDNR carry out its project.
Monday night, roughly 40 people packed village hall to watch the proceedings, with about a dozen speaking out against the project, saying they enjoy the deer and can’t bear the thought of innocent animals losing their lives.
Resident Mona Auer pointed to three local ordinances she says protect the deer from harm.
“I’d call the luring, targeting and tearing open the flesh of an innocent animal with a rifle, thereby killing it, harm,” Auer said.
But Trustee Steve Wind said it’s not right to let the disease infect healthy deer — if it in fact exists in the village.
“If we just turn a blind eye and say, ‘Don’t hurt the deer,’ well no, we’re hurting the deer,” Wind said. “We’re letting it happen, and I just think that’s irresponsible.”
Trustee Dennis Fudala was the only one to vote against the project.
Pointing to the recent elimination of a police officer position, he says there are far more pressing matters to deal with. He also said killing the deer is too extreme, and he isn’t convinced shooting 20 deer would help determine the disease’s impact on the entire herd.
“It’s still a Russian roulette; it’s still a gamble,” Fudala said.
IDNR has also gotten permission to kill 20 deer in Dundee Township and another 20 in the Kane County Forest Preserve District. It is aiming for 75 within the 25-mile square area of Sleepy Hollow.
According to the village’s wildlife sanctuary ordinance, “It shall be the objective of the community as a whole, and each individual citizen of the community, to maintain the wildlife sanctuary and the country style living that exists in the village.”
Scott Finney, chairman of the environmental committee, says that doesn’t preclude the village from letting IDNR kill deer to determine whether the disease exists in Sleepy Hollow or from taking whatever action is necessary to keep it from spreading.