Sep 10, 2015 By Harry Funk 3 min read

Along with an imminent archery hunt and the possibility of using sharpshooters, Mt. Lebanon is investigating nonlethal means of lowering the number of deer locally.

Commissioners on Sept. 8 approved the municipality submitting a proposal to the Humane Society of the United States and the Dietrich W. Botsiber Foundation for funding to support a fertility control and sterilization project. The foundation, based in Delaware County, supports animal welfare programs among its philanthropies.

“What we are proposing is to conduct a study in Mt. Lebanon on the efficacy of using surgical sterilization to stabilize and reduce the deer population over time,” Stephanie Boyles Griffin, Humane Society senior director and wildlife biologist, told commissioners by telephone during their discussion session prior to Tuesday’s regular meeting.

Kristen Tullo, the society’s Pennsylvania state director, said her organization seeks Mt. Lebanon’s commitment toward securing permitting from the Pennsylvania Game Commission and providing access to sites where deer are likely to be found.

To date, the game commission has not approved any type of sterilization program in the state.

“They’ve reiterated on numerous occasions, they basically have to have a proposal submitted to their biologist for review and decide whether or not it’s good enough science” to issue a permit, according to Tony DeNicola, president of White Buffalo Inc., who also spoke by telephone.

His Connecticut-based organization has been contracted for Mt. Lebanon’s archery services and also has worked with deer sterilization programs in other states. One in Cayuga Heights, N.Y., resulted in lowering the population 20 percent in two consecutive years, he said.

“If we treat nearly 95 to 100 percent of females in the community, I would have good confidence that within the five-year time period, you could see a 50 percent population reduction,” DeNicola told commissioners.

The vote to authorize the municipal proposal was 3-2, with Coleen Vuono and Steve Silverman opposing. They cited concerns about staff members devoting time to the project while the municipality is pursuing other methods of deer management.

“Perhaps this is something we could be thinking two, three, four, five years from now, once we have the problem that we have under control,” Vuono said.

Commissioner Kelly Fraasch, who consistently has opposed lethal means of population control, spoke about the Humane Society’s efforts on behalf of Mt. Lebanon with regard to an alternative.

“They came up with a funding source for us,” she said. “I mean, I don’t know what else we want, besides it being wrapped in a pretty package and handed to us at this point.”

She pointed out that the commission has been looking into the possibility of a nonlethal program for years.

“Since 2012, there are other communities that are moving ahead in other states because they’ve heard about this method from us,” Fraasch said. “We could have actually started this a year or two years ago and been in the forefront of this.”