Deer camps must continue to exist, at least if it is up to a large part of the municipal council in Hoogeveen. A number of political parties filed a motion with that request. They call on the council to convey their wish in a letter to The Hague.
Deer camps are mainly filled with fallow deer. However, the animal is no longer included on the new house and hobby animal list of the Ministry of Agriculture, Nature and Food Quality. This means that they will no longer be suitable for keeping in the future, which may cause deer camps to disappear.
The petitioners of the motion were the CDA, Municipal Interests, the VVD and the SGP. According to independent scientists, the animals, given their size and behavior, have the potential to cause very serious harm to humans. “But as far as I know, deer camps have never caused problems,” said Femke Koekoek on behalf of the CDA. “It is better to do something about the wolf problem than about the deer parks.”
Her words could count on the support of Brand van Rijn of the SGP. “I myself have fond memories of deer camps. It forms people, it connects them. The deer camps must continue to exist, there are no concerns about safety at all.” Forum for Democracy eventually also voted. In the end, there was a majority that passed the motion.
The ChristenUnie, D66, PvdA and the SP were against. Jeroen Pomper of the SP explained why his party voted against. He thinks it is a sympathetic motion, but he is pleased that the cabinet has taken this decision. “Fallow deer don’t belong in camps at all, but in the wild.”
Martien van Dijk of the ChristenUnie called it a stamp motion. “It is a subject that we as a council do not deal with at all, but the government. I think it would be wise for the applicants to set up a club themselves to preserve the deer. Let us as a council continue to deal with other important subjects.”
Deer camps may no longer add new fallow deer to their animal stock from 1 January next year. Existing camps are still allowed to keep fallow deer until they die. So there is an extinction policy. It is also not allowed to breed with deer after that.