A snip here, a snip there.
Via SI Live:
The city wants to spend big so there’s no bang for Staten Island’s bucks.
Comptroller Scott Stringer is allowing the city to fast-track the contracting process on a $2 million plan to perform vasectomies on the borough’s male deer.
“On Tuesday, the Comptroller’s office gave approval for the Parks Department request to use an emergency procurement to initiate a three-year sterilization study of deer on Staten Island,” spokesman Eric Sumberg said.
The city charter allows the comptroller’s office to approve emergency contracting when there’s a threat to life, safety or property.
An unrestrained and expanding deer herd can harm parks and private property, spread tick-borne illness and wander into roads more often, increasing the risk for deadly vehicle collisions.[…]
Mayor Bill de Blasio and other city officials have agreed that this is the fastest and most humane way to limit further growth of the Island’s potentially dangerous white-tailed population.
But several wildlife experts think the plan won’t work because the city is ignoring basic deer biology and conventional herd management practices. Some called the proposal “really stupid” and “incredibly foolish.”
They also said sterilizing male deer may even make the problem worse because females would go into heat several times a year, creating a chaotic mating season.