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| Photo copyright owner: National Geographic No infringement intended. Used for news purpose only. |
The story of Cecil, the majestic
Zimbabwe lion, has been in the news as I write this. He was lured out of his protected habitat by Walter Palmer (a Minnesotan dentist), helped by some guides, where Palmer shot Cecil with an arrow, but failed to kill him. (Palmer, obviously not very competent with a bow-and-arrow, refers to his "hobby" of killing animals as something he does for "fun." Since when is killing anything fun?)
Palmer and the guides then hunted the injured and suffering lovely lion before killing, beheading, and skinning him, all in the name of “sport.”
As far as I'm concerned, a “sport” is something where both sides are given the same tools and evenly matched. If you were playing tennis and had a tennis racket while the other person had a ping-pong paddle, it wouldn’t be a fair match. If you were a pro football player and your team wore helmets but the other side didn’t, well, you get the point. You want to hunt big game, Mr. Palmer? Fine. Go into the jungle without any weapons. With only your bare hands go toe-to-paw with a lion, and let's see who comes out of the jungle as the victor. I dare ya.
Why do hunters enjoy killing for no purpose other than entertainment? Guns kill. Killing is bad. That's Humanity 101, folks.
You like to feel a gun in your hands? You like to shoot? Fine. That's why we have shooting ranges. Go shoot at bottles and cans and targets to your heart's content.
No one should be allowed to take any life for sport. The only grounds to shoot an animal in the wild would be either for self-defense or survival as a source of food. As to those who argue for “controlling the population” of certain species, that position has little merit. Long before humans came along, Nature has managed to thin its kingdom through natural selection, whether animals die due to starvation, disease, or being killed by other animals (who only do so for food, not sport). If we’re going to focus on controlling a population, let’s focus on controlling the rapid growth of the human population.
Palmer and the guides then hunted the injured and suffering lovely lion before killing, beheading, and skinning him, all in the name of “sport.”
As far as I'm concerned, a “sport” is something where both sides are given the same tools and evenly matched. If you were playing tennis and had a tennis racket while the other person had a ping-pong paddle, it wouldn’t be a fair match. If you were a pro football player and your team wore helmets but the other side didn’t, well, you get the point. You want to hunt big game, Mr. Palmer? Fine. Go into the jungle without any weapons. With only your bare hands go toe-to-paw with a lion, and let's see who comes out of the jungle as the victor. I dare ya.
Why do hunters enjoy killing for no purpose other than entertainment? Guns kill. Killing is bad. That's Humanity 101, folks.
You like to feel a gun in your hands? You like to shoot? Fine. That's why we have shooting ranges. Go shoot at bottles and cans and targets to your heart's content.
No one should be allowed to take any life for sport. The only grounds to shoot an animal in the wild would be either for self-defense or survival as a source of food. As to those who argue for “controlling the population” of certain species, that position has little merit. Long before humans came along, Nature has managed to thin its kingdom through natural selection, whether animals die due to starvation, disease, or being killed by other animals (who only do so for food, not sport). If we’re going to focus on controlling a population, let’s focus on controlling the rapid growth of the human population.
Just as I squirm when someone buys
a puppy from a puppy mill, breeder, or pet store, when there are hundreds of
thousands of animals being euthanized in shelters, I get just as annoyed at people
who want to have a child “of their own.” This is based solely on ego. If they
want a child, go adopt or foster first. Until we get all of those children in safe, loving homes, there should be a moratorium on bringing any more humans into the world.
I feel the same way about adopting animals. Go to shelters and save lives. Don't go to breeders. Spay and neuter your pets. Don't irresponsibly add to the unnecessarily large population of discarded and abandoned pets and strays.
To digress for a moment on the subject of
breeders… what is the purpose of spending thousands of dollars simply to brag that you have a purebred pet? Purebreds are notorious for having health problems. If you’re doing it “for show” to win ribbons, again,
how shallow is that? Haven’t we evolved by now?
Why aren’t we putting all of
our energy and money into worthwhile pursuits? Why is our society so clueless
that we elevate materialistic nonsense like the Kardashians, rather than
supporting things of importance? Why do we pay celebrities and athletes
ridiculous amounts of money for doing something that doesn’t contribute as much
to society as firefighters, police officers, and schoolteachers? Ah, but that's a blog subject for another day.
While I mourn the loss of the magnificent and majestic Cecil, and hope his murderer (Walter Palmer) is brought to justice for his inexcusable deeds, the silver lining from this tragedy is a massive elevation of global awareness on the issues of preservation, "sport" hunting, and the sanctity of life for all living beings.
Hopefully this will not just be the story of the week, but people will carry the torch for this cause and relentlessly pursue the criminalization of all trophy hunting, making "sport" killing illegal. Too many animals are on the endangered species list already, and the list is growing fast.
R.I.P. Cecil. Let us hope your death will not be for naught.
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