Hunters are egotistical people
With reference to the letter printed in your Jan. 23 paper written by Mr. Joseph P. McAleer of Aberdeen in support of deer hunting I would like to say: there is no need to hunt deer or any other animal! I am so tired of hearing people like Mr. McAleer try to make hunting sound like a good thing by saying that hunters are protecting the environment and participating in animal conservation.

Hunters are egotistical people who need to feel like "men" by killing something. They try to outsmart and then kill an innocent, unarmed animal. That really takes a lot of brains and brawn!

Foraging deer ruin our parks? Let's get to the real bottom line here. People ruin all land by tearing down trees and building houses and strip malls. There is no end to the development. Deer are now subject to living in small scraps of woods that are left here and there. And God forbid if they wander into some of the yards of the very same people that took away the land they lived on. They can't understand why the deer are eating their plants. Developers are greedy, always looking to make more money, and politicians take their bribes and allow land that should stay conserved to be built on.

These people have no conception of any other life form having a right to live on this planet aside from themselves. And the people who buy the houses are the type who just want bigger and better, bigger and better, no matter what the cost. In addition, man, in his eagerness to kill things has done away with the deer's natural predators. Try to bring them back and everyone wants to kill them too! It makes no sense.

If people like Mr. McAleer want to hunt something, let them hunt each other. There are way too many people living on this planet. Why don't they shoot and kill each other and leave the beautiful, innocent animals alone?

The Bible that these people believe in says "thou shalt not kill." It doesn't say "thou shalt not kill (except for animals). Killing something for fun or sport is wrong. And there is no need to hunt for meat in this day and age. If you want meat there is more than enough for sale at the grocery store.

Mr. McAleer and people like him should go outside and start picking up the litter that people throw on the roads. Now that would be doing something good for the environment!

Manuela DaPonte

Fort Monmouth

Eatontown