A rush to judgment?

Did the deer committee rush to judgment without all of the facts?

There has been:

* No official count to see if there's a problem.

* No information on the number of landscape complaints, if any, before the push for an urban hunt.

* No warning from city leaders about danger from deer.

* No information about installation of additional deer warning signs. In fact, a deer sign on Lexington Avenue was removed.

* No explanation of the misleading nuisance abatement report. A single incident can have two to three separate listings.

* No specific data to determine if certain areas are more prone to deer incidents. If it's just certain areas, put up signs warning drivers, clear brush from roadsides, and add streetlights, if needed, to improve visibility.

* No attempt has been made to educate residents about how they may be attracting deer either by feeding or by their choice of plants.

How can the city rush into such an important decision without having accurate information? Using weapons inside the city is a very drastic measure. Please consider the residents who don't want weapons used in their city.

Consider the liability issue and the fact that bow hunting depends on the deer bleeding to death. Up to 50 percent of deer are wounded and can run into streets and through yards before dropping. Hunters like to tell us how safe bow hunting is, but even they can't predict where a wounded deer might run. Just because the proposed solution is cheap doesn't mean it's the wisest choice.

JUDY PULLEY, Cape Girardeau