Critics Say Deer Program Went Awry

The sterilization in early January of what was reported to be 114 female deer, for which the East Hampton Village Board paid $140,000 to White Buffalo, a nonprofit organization based in Connecticut, is under scrutiny in light of the recent, gruesome deaths of three of the animals and confirmation that three others died as a consequence of capture or surgery. While the critics of the program have been vociferous, White Buffalo has shot back, suggesting they are “outliers.”

In April, a doe, bearing tag No. 1 — indicating it had been sterilized — was brought to the Evelyn Alexander Wildlife Rescue Center in Hampton Bays. Virginia Frati, its founder and executive director, said yesterday the animal had “very bad peritonitis” and was “leaking a vile-smelling fluid,” though not from the incision. “Something inside was making its way to the outside.” The animal was euthanized.

On Memorial Day weekend, as recounted in a letter to The Star, Dell Cullum, a wildlife removal specialist and photographer, was called to a Newtown Lane residence where a doe bearing tag No. 57 died while attempting to birth stillborn twins. In another letter, in today’s issue, Mr. Cullum described being called to Buell Lane on Friday, where another tagged doe was near death. “Her back end was rotting black flesh,” Mr. Cullum wrote. “Maggots were coming out of both her anus and birth canal and surrounding the area.”

In both instances, Mr. Cullum alleges, sterilization was to blame. Removal of progesterone, a hormone essential to pregnancy, led to infection and septic shock, he believes, and a slow, excruciating death. Veterinary surgeons, he said, backed his conclusions. “I’ve been assured that what I’m saying is fact,” he said on Tuesday.

According to a report to the village from Tony DeNicola, the president of White Buffalo, although three does are known to have died as a result of capture or surgery, that number falls within the normal range of complications. “All data show that animals handled in an identical manner have survived,” he said on Tuesday. “We see them aborting or coming to term without complications.”

The deer found on Buell Lane was brought to a  facility maintained by the state’s Department of Environmental Conservation for necropsy. Joshua Stiller, a wildlife biologist with the D.E.C., who acts as liaison to the village and White Buffalo, did not respond to a request for the results of the necropsy.

The village appropriated $30,000 toward the first year of a planned multiyear program and forwarded $100,000, which had been donated by the Village Preservation Society, whose members emphatically lobbied for a deer-reduction program.

“We are aware of Dell’s allegations,” Becky Molinaro, the village administrator, said on Tuesday. With regard to the doe that died attempting to birth twins, “We are led to believe that was due to complications from the birth,” she said. “We don’t believe it was directly related to the sterilization procedure.” Village officials have been monitoring the does, she said, and the D.E.C., which authorized the program, is updated when a tagged deer is known to have died.

Ilissa Meyer of Equine Sport Science is among White Buffalo’s critics. She had been prevented from entering the site where sterilization was performed,  and said that it was irresponsible to perform surgeries in an environment that she suggested might not be sterile and to then release the sedated deer into last winter’s harsh weather.

“What are they afraid of?” she asked of White Buffalo. “If they are right, let my husband” — Dr. James Meyer, a large-animal veterinarian — “cut one open. That’s really poor science.”

Ms. Frati, of the wildlife center, agreed. “It seems extreme to do the surgery and let them go the same day,” she said. “It seems very expensive, and extreme. I recognize the people are trying to solve a perceived problem, and the public is panicking because of Lyme disease.”

  It also has been reported that at least 1 of the 114 reportedly sterilized does was struck and killed by a vehicle, that a tagged fawn was recently found dead in a field, and at least one other was shot by a hunter.

A mortality rate of approximately 15 percent, resulting from vehicle collisions, being impaled on fences, hunting, or natural causes is normal, Mr. DeNicola said. “That happens. I’ve collared probably 1,500 white-tailed deer. Just because we tagged these animals doesn’t mean their death is linked to our handling of them.”

He angrily refuted Mr. Cullum’s claims. “When you see a couple outliers from someone who either doesn’t like me or doesn’t like the program, you have to take it with a grain of salt. That’s where we’re coming from,” he said.

The deer discovered on Friday, he said, appeared to be emaciated. “What does that mean? I have no idea. . . . Before I get all excited or too worried about something, let’s wait for the best scientifically trained professionals,” he said, referring to the biologists performing the necropsy. He suggested that white muscle disease, which is found in large animals and can cause reproductive problems and muscular degeneration, is a possible culprit in the deaths Mr. Cullum observed. White muscle disease is caused by a deficiency in selenium and/or vitamin E, and selenium-deficient soils are found in the Northeast, he said.

Ms. Frati said that deer brought to her center are given a selenium and vitamin E injection as a matter of course. “There have been times before the sterilization program that deer that come in can’t stand up,” she said. “We give them a shot of selenium and vitamin E in the same injection. We haven’t noticed whether it helped or not.”

With regard to the sterilization site, Mr. DeNicola said its location was undisclosed “so we don’t end up with a bunch of crazies” there. He likened the site to a mobile surgical unit and said it was equipped with sterile equipment and staffed by professional veterinarians.

 “I’ve dealt with this long enough,” he said. “We have people that follow us around and harass us. It’s enough to do the project without that drama.”

Whatever the cause of the recent deaths, Ms. Frati said, “I wish everybody would leave the deer alone. I don’t think it’s our place to do anything like that.”