Some residents are angry that officials shot a moose traveling toward downtown Tuesday morning. Why, they ask, wasn’t a more humane tact taken, like tranquilizing the creature before transporting it to safety?
Contrary to what news stories might suggest, the decision to kill, rather than tranquilize, the 900-pound animal had nothing to do with its proximity to Interstate 290 and Route 146 during rush hour or the fact the female moose was aggressive because of the mating season.
Truth is, when the moose headed toward the city’s center, its fate was already sealed because tranquilizing had ceased to be an option, not because she posed a threat to morning drivers, but because tranquilizing the moose could pose a threat to New Hampshire hunters.
That’s right. The Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs stops using tranquilizers to down these animals a month before the start of New Hampshire’s moose hunting season, October 18.
That’s because the active ingredient in moose tranquilizers stays in the animal’s system for 30 days. The chance that New Hampshire hunters — Massachusetts prohibits moose hunting — consume the meat of a tranquilized animal poses a health risk, according to Lisa Capone, spokesperson for the state Executive Office of Energy.
The same policy of not tranquilizing during or immediately before hunting season also applies to deer whose hunting season starts October 13.
So the only chance the now departed moose had of escaping with its life Tuesday during this time of no tranquilizing was when police tried to turn the animal away from traffic by making noises and trying to distract it.
When the moose refused to yield, there was never a question of what to do next.
