The Hunters of Maryland have submitted an Op Ed to the Capital Gazette in opposition to Anne Arundel County’s Venison Food Relief Program – a program which provides $50 cash for every deer legally harvested and donated to the County’s food banks. It became effective November 1, 2020 as we have previously noted on this website. The source of taxpayer dollars: federal COVID $$. This Program has been ruled illegal by the Attorney General but is reportedly being ignored by the County. How can this be? What jurisdiction defies the Attorney General and why would they? Why have laws if not to be enforced?
We are doing our best to stop this illicit scheme to kill deer for cash before something similar spreads statewide, no matter how laudable. For years hunters have willingly donated harvested deer to the needy without being paid or seeking any form of remuneration, aka Farmers and Hunters Feeding the Hungry (fhfh.org). The General Assembly, with help from Maryland’s hunting community, even passed a bill in 2018 providing a $50 tax credit for each deer harvested, with an annual cap of $200 (4 deer) that terminates on June 1, 2023 (http://mgaleg.maryland.gov/2018RS/bills/hb/hb0007T.pdf). Suffice to say the County’s Program has unimaginable unintended consequences. It must be stopped. We’re hopeful our Op Ed inspires the good citizens of Anne Arundel County to seek the Program’s time-sensitive termination.
